Pathie Zimbogous
by Pathwarden
Summary: Townsville recieves an unexpected visitor when an eccentric boy from the depths of outer space crash-lands into the city park. His intentions are good, but his life becomes a nightmare when people assume him for a rowdyruff. (COMPLETED)
1. Prelude

Just a small Disclaimer: The Powerpuff Girls and all related characters (except for my character) are properties of Craig McCracken and the Cartoon Network. 

Also, this is my first fanfic on this website, so constructive feedback is encouraged and appreciated.

-Pathwarden

Chapter One

**  
**Somewhere, in the bustling lands of the USA, there is a lively city named Townsville. It is a location filled with great pride, a luxurious economy, a beautiful skyline, and the nicest citizens a tourist would ever have the fortune to come across. The place has everything a city could ever benefit from: A grand lake in a central park; a majestic river flowing into the nearby ocean; museums; Nightclubs; innumerable stores; recreational facilities; and the complementary suburb of Pokey Oaks on the opposing side of the river, connected to the metropolis by a sturdy, colossal bridge.

Unfortunately, the city of Townsville (despite all the positive praise) does not rank high on the vacationer's list. Why? Because the city's grandiose icing does little to hide the layer-upon-layer of problems: A low level of intelligence for the average citizen, an absurdly high crime rate, a tendency to attract "Godzilla" rejects, and a dormant volcano that is erected right in the middle of the park, which just happens to be the base of operations for a "super-intelligent", evil monkey bent on world domination. "Freaky" doesn't begin to describe these oddities. 

Yes, Townsville is a place with problems. **Big **problems. And had there not been that faithful day in which Pokey Oaks resident Professor Utonium created the famous Powerpuff girls, the city surely would've been reduced to an apocalyptic wasteland.

The Powerpuff Girls, for the uninitiated, are a trio of young kindergarteners, named Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup, who were artificially created by the mixture of sugar, spice, everything nice, and the accidental spilling of the mysterious chemical X. Their appearances are simple, with large heads, tiny bodies, a noticeable lack of digits, noses, and ears, and simple, one-color dresses with a single black stripe around the trunk, color-coordinated to the irises of their pretty "anime" eyes. They are gifted with great superpowers, ranging from the enhancement of power, speed, and the senses to the more exotic abilities of flying and laser vision. The three of them use these abilities daily to ensure that the citizens of Townsville are protected from danger, and do a darn-good job at it, as well.

That does not mean that the three are deprived of their childhood: They still find the time to enjoy the activities of any other average child, such as, say, playing a game of catch in the park. In fact the three of them are doing that right at this moment, and judging by the ridiculously wide distance between Bubbles the blue-eyed blonde and Buttercup the green-eyed brunette, not to mention that Blossom the pink-eyed redhead is equipped with a laser speed gun, it appears that they're winding up for one of the fastest, greatest throws in the history of playing catch.           
  


*****

  
"Hey Bubbles! Get ready to catch this one!" Buttercup yelled to her sister. 

"Don't throw it so hard this time!" Bubbles yelled back, getting ready for the baseball Buttercup was about to throw.

"Here it comes!" Buttercup shouted in return.

After a quick windup, Buttercup threw the ball with an intense velocity. It rocketed towards the park perimeter, where Bubbles was standing, poised and ready to catch. With a loud whack, the baseball slammed right into the blonde's catching glove, pushing the young girl slightly backwards from the tremendous momentum.

"Hey! I actually caught the ball!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Hey, girls! I caught the ball! I caught the-"

FOOSH!

"EEEEEEEEK!"  
Bubbles' surprise of finally catching one of Buttercup's fastballs was immediately cut off by pain as the red-hot baseball burst into flames, which, in turn, created a dangerous fireball that was burning her glove at a frantic rate. Not in the mood to get second to third degree burns, she circled around in panic as she tried to douse the searing flames of the burning glove. 

Buttercup, hearing her sister's loud screeching and fearing the worst, flew quickly to the rescue. But she stopped short when she saw Bubbles' source of despair.

"AHHH! Burning-burning-burning-burning-BURNING!!!"  The blonde cried, unwillingly and unintentionally performing a dangerous circus act as she searched for the nearest water supply.

 The sight of Bubbles, running around like a puppy dog whose tail was just stepped on, proved too much for Buttercup's somewhat sadistic sense of humor. She pointed and laughed her mocking laugh at her desperate sister.

"Bubbles, you dummy! Look behind you!" The brunette shouted out, mockingly.

Bubbles, still clutching to her last remnants of reasonable intelligence, followed Buttercup's command- and saw (to her embarrassment) the grand, glistening view of the park lake, which is probably the hardest body of water to not notice, save the ocean. Regardless, Bubbles immediately dove right into the holy pool of salvation, ignoring the fact that her actions would certainly make her the laughingstock in all of Townsville.

Completely oblivious to the actions that unfolded, their sister Blossom chose that moment to approach her feisty sibling, Buttercup. Her expression was that of amazement as she continued to stare at the reading displayed on her radar speed scanner:

 "Wow, that was your fastest yet, Buttercup! According to this device, the speed of that baseball was greater than that of an electromagnetically-powered bullet train!" Blossom exclaimed.  
Buttercup looked at Blossom in confusion. "An Electro-what?"

"Never mind." The intelligent leader glanced around her surroundings. "It's too bad no-one was paying attention to see it. Say, where on earth is Bubbles? Did she catch the ball?" She asked as she scanned the premises.

The brunette stifled a chuckle. "Oh, she caught the ball, alright. But my fastball was too much for her. Just as soon as she caught it, FOOSH! It turned into this awesome fireball in her hand! Then she ran around for five minutes before she FINALLY saw the lake, and jumped right in!"

Blossom gasped. "Buttercup! How could you do that to her? Don't you think she'd get a nasty burn because of that?"

"Hello, Blossom? We're the_ Powerpuff girls!" Buttercup rebutted. "We're the defenders of Justice! Fighters of Crime! We're SUPERHEROES! I don't think a burning baseball glove's gonna do us in. Besides, it's not like she's gonna lose any fingers. Heck, we don't even have any ears, noses, or toes!"_

"Hmm. You do have a point there." Blossom agreed.  

Buttercup pointed towards the lake. "See, wasn't I right? Bubbles is fine!"

Bubbles did appear to be in good shape, as she walked towards her sisters. She could be considered okay, unless you consider her wet, loose hair, her soggy dress, a missing left shoe, and her left hand still wearing the blackened, charred catching glove. And only the most innocent (or clueless) of folk would've not taken notice to the vengeful burning in her big, blue eyes.

Blossom definitely wasn't in that group. "Um…Hi, Bubbles." She said nervously, her expression that of concern for Buttercup's health. "Are you ok? Any burns?"

Bubbles took off the destroyed glove and examined her hand. Save for a few red blemishes, her stump still had a healthy layer of flesh. No signs of exposed bone anywhere.

"I...I think I'm fine." She turned in anger to Buttercup. "This wouldn't happen if Buttercup didn't throw so hard!"

Buttercup grinned, "Ah, don't be such a crybaby. You just can't handle my hardcore skillz. If you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen!"  
"I'm not a crybaby!" Cried Bubbles, her eyes squinted.   
"Is so!" accused Buttercup, also squinting her eyes.   
"Is not!"

"Is so!"

"Is not!"

"Is-is-is-is-is-is!"

"Not-not-not-not-not-NOT!"

"Is **infinity!"  
"Not inif...infi...infinity **PLUS ONE**!"**

Such is the relationship between Buttercup and Bubbles. They are always at odds, and are never agreeable on just about everything. This especially proved true today, since they were out on their own this summer afternoon, without their father figure, Professor Utonium, to keep the peace. In cases like this, Blossom would usually attempt to intervene to stop all this crazy nonsense, but her attention is distracted by an odd spectacle in the northern sky. 

Up above, something that had the unusual look of a metal ball bearing was flying through the Townsville skyline. Its velocity was like that of a screaming fighter jet. It appeared to have no intention of slowing down. In fact, it looked like it was going to…  
"GIRLS! RUN FOR COVER!" Blossom cried.   
Before Buttercup and Bubbles could ask what the heck she was talking about, they were picked up by their leader and literally thrown to the side. Blossom, with her super-speed, zipped ahead of her flying sisters and caught them to prevent injuries. It was just in time, too. Seconds later, the large ball of metal crashed into the exact place where our heroes stood just moments before. Dirt flew into the air. People panicked and ran for their lives. The large thud of the white-hot metal crashing into the soft earth resonated for miles and miles. Amongst all this pandemonium, the girls could do nothing, except faint.  
  



	2. The Introduction of Pathie Zimbogous

Chapter Two

"Cough! Cough-cough! Cough!"

Unaware of the chaos surrounding the area, a mysterious entity struggled for air as the control panels around it shorted out and produced a rancid stench of burning rubber. The smell was bad enough on its own, but the confined space he occupied concentrated the offensive gases to an unbearable level. The entity would have to act quickly, else it would surely lose consciousness, if not its life.

The entity barked out a command, in an incomprehensible language. _"Computer! Deploy the gas mask immediately!"_

Within seconds, a swirl of bluish particles popped into view. Like a school of oceanic fish defending itself against a vicious predator, they swirled around the entity's head, creating a grid-like polyhedron with transparent faces and no visible edges. .

The entity breathed a sigh of relief. _"Ahh…That's much better_."

A calm, feminine, disembodied voice spoke out, in the same unusual language of the entity: _"Scout Pathie Zimbogous, sir, there are major malfunctions and system failures in almost all the computational tasks. Shall I transmit myself to your Multi-Purpose Scouter's Device?"_

The scout observed the panels once more. They cackled with the spikes of electric energy and emitted a light smoke, a sure sign that they were completely shot. 

_"Ah, heck… It's not like you have a choice, computer. Begin the transfer." Pathie replied._

A series of high-pitched beeps emitted from the malfunctioning controls.

_"Transfer com-" The computer began, but before it could finish its sentence, it was abruptly cut off by the sudden shutdown of the whole cockpit, pitching the scout into an infinitely deep abyss of darkness. He quickly gasped in a deep breath: Without any power, his gas mask would most likely be deactivated, leaving him no protection from the noxious fumes of burning rubber. _

He reached for the spot on his left arm where his MPSD would be mounted, preparing to activate another gas mask…

And found out, to his dismay, that the only thing there was the sleeve of his uniform.

_Aw, shoot! He cursed in his mind. _As if things weren't bad enough already!_ _

Pathie, his breath quickly running out, blindly scoured around the cramped premises for the device, his senses of hearing and touch his only guide in the darkness. The scout's eyes became watery like the Niagara Falls, and his chest began to pound, as though it was prepared to violently exert itself from his body. 

_This is definitely not good! He thought, as his time continued to slip away into the demonic depths of cruel fate. _No matter where I reach, I can't find the blasted device! I'll die for sure if I don't do something, and quickly!__

Just then, a subtle idea stopped Pathie in his tracks. _If the computer successfully uploaded itself into the MPSD, that means the device should accept voice commands! It's a long shot, but it's the only chance I got!_

With what little remains of his deteriorating breath, he cried out, _"Computer-Gas-Mask!"_

Nothing happened.

The scout's hope was completely shattered, believing fully that he had failed. Failed before he could even get out of his pod. Accepting his ultimate end, he allowed himself to suck in the air that would surely bring an end to his life…

…Only to be treated to the cleanest, freshest air in his entire life.

_What the-?  Pathie stood motionless, bewildered by his unforeseen stroke of luck. It turned out that his idea worked out after all! And just in time as well. But there was still the problem of locating the MPSD. Without any pressure to cause panic, the scout's mind swiftly produced the ideal solution._

_"Computer, activate flashlight."_

A white ray of light suddenly protruded from the right of Pathie, basking the disabled pod in a heavenly glow of soft color. It revealed him in his entirety: A small, supposedly young, human-like being, wearing a simple black tunic and pants, with short-cut hair as grey as a stormy cloud. His skin was that of an albino, as white as the glaciers of the Antarctic. The hands were nothing more than mere stumps. And the features of his head were very peculiar: cute, yet enormous eyes (also grey), a shape like that of a widened, horizontal oval, and the apparent absence of a visible nose or ears.  

He cringed slightly as his sight became accustomed to the new brightness. As his eyes adjusted, he was treated to the familiar pattern of blue particles orbiting his noggin as he reached for the device that saved his life.

_"Hmm.__ I keep forgetting those things don't produce any sound or light." He commented to himself. __"I'll have to try to remember that. Wouldn't want to have to go through that again!"_

The Multi-Purpose Scouter's Device is a very peculiar object. To the naked eye, it would appear to be nothing more than a colorless, flimsy, plastic disc, its only apparent purpose to be chewed upon by the family pet. In fact, the inventors of the device designed it in this manner so that scouts could carry the device without raising suspicion, since it can easily contour to the body and change its color to camouflage in any setting. Anyone trained in the use of the MPSD, however, are bestowed upon with great power and versatility. It is the ultimate Swiss-Army Knife, able to produce any conceivable type of tool. It is a portable encyclopedia, containing priceless amounts of information and capable of uploading new data in a snap. It is the personal doctor, the loyal protector, and the master of disguise, stealth, and acclimation. It is even the standard "Black Box", in the case where missions are…unsuccessful. To put it simply, the MPSD is a scout's best friend in unfamiliar, hostile territory.

Pathie attached the device to his left arm, where it was supposed to be before his brief brush with death. It wrapped itself around his flesh and morphed its color to that of his charcoal-black sleeve. 

_"Welcome to the Multi-Purpose Scouter's Device, Pathie Zimbogous."__ The plastic disc chimed, its voice the same as the pod's now-defunct computer. _

The scout's face gleamed with a smile. _"It's good to hear you again, computer. Tell me; are all your databanks intact?"_

_"There is a fifteen percent corruption in my data," The MPSD replied. __"But most functions are still operational."_

_"Is the Voice Journal working?"_

A few, high-pitched beeps. _"Voice Journal is ready."_

_"Ok, then! Begin recording. I must make my first journal entry for this mission. My superiors would be quite upset if I didn't have a report to bring…assuming they're still alive, that is."_

More beeps. "_Recording activated."_

***

_Scout's __Mission__ Log- First Entry, Day One:_

_Hmm…well, I don't know how I should start this, really. Normally, I'd type up a written report of my expeditions for the big guys up in the cozy, leather chairs getting the lion's share of the profits. But now that I've been drafted, I got to start doing this "reporting" thing off the top of my head. Let's see, where to begin…_

_Well, as far as I know, I've been somewhat successful in landing upon the planet that was assigned to me. It was rough as heck, though…**someone** should've told me about those blasted satellites, else I wouldn't have clipped one of them during my approach! Frankly, I'm surprised that I survived the landing at all. But the important thing is that I'm not dead. Unfortunately for me, the pod's completely fried, so I'll be stuck on this rock for awhile until I can begin repairs._

_Anyway, based on the last readings I could remember, this planet should have ample amounts of the chemical…what was its name? Estrox? Bah! I'm sure the database in this MPSD'll give me the correct name once I remember how to access them. To get back to the subject… the army sent me, along with anyone else not afflicted with the disease, to find this chemical so that we could quell the current pandemic affecting the planet. It shouldn't be too difficult. Just find the substance and then vamoose back home, right? _

_To be truthful, I'm actually a bit nervous about this place. While I've visited other planets before, this would be my first time on a planet with a relatively advanced civilization. Besides my own, that is. I mean…what am I supposed to do if I meet some inhabitants? It's not like I can ask them to take me to their leader or anything. That and I've heard some horrifying stories from the more experienced scouts, especially the ones with amputated limbs. Or what if the species is the overzealous type, assuming me to be their holy savior? Or the greatest of evil? What if this place is still filled to the brim with savagery? What if…I become stranded?_

_Well, enough chatter. I'm about to leave my pod and begin the search. I shouldn't be such a worrywart. I've had no trouble in the "worst-case scenario" exercises…There's no reason why things would go down the drain now. It's not like I'm going to be tortured or anything. I'll update this journal in a couple of hours. Wish me luck! End recording._

_*** _

Author's Note: My apologies for the slow-going plot so far, but I can assure you that things will pick up once our unsuspecting visitor meets up with the Powerpuffs. As always, constructive feedback is encouraged and appreciated. 

And If you're confused about the italicized quotes: This is done so that the reader knows that the speaker isn't actually speaking English, but is translated for the sake of knowing what the heck that person is saying. While I'm sure there are some who enjoy conjuring up unusual, alien languages, I feel that kind of labor is unnecessary. Of course, this is not to be confused with a person's thoughts: They are always italicized, regardless of what language a certain person may speak.  


	3. The Power of Prejudice

Chapter Three

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is Boris Wiltzer, your news anchor for the 11 O'clock news, interrupting your current programming with a breaking report, live from the south entrance of Townsville Park:

"Precisely five minutes before, a peaceful day in the local park was brought to a crushing halt when, out of nowhere, a giant ball of steel smashed into the ground just south of the lake. There have been no reports of injuries, but authorities are completely bewildered by this sudden occurrence. To quote one police officer: 'While I've seen some weird stuff in this town, this is absolutely ridiculous! I mean, come on! What kind of Looney launches an oversized pachinko pellet into the atmosphere? And on top of that, is there anyone who even makes oversized pachinko pellets?'

"Because of the uncertainty of the situation, the police have blocked off all entrances around the park perimeter, awaiting the arrival of the Powerpuff Girls so they can handle this as safely as possible. In the mean- Hold on! Something's happening to the ball…Don't just stand there, get this on the camera! Hmm…Yes, I think I see something…It appears to be collapsing into itself! It's going down…down…Ladies and Gentlemen, the steel ball has disappeared completely, but…there seems to be-

**"SWEET MOTHER OF ****PEARL**!****

"Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a Rowdyruff in place of the metal ball! You heard me right, folks: A ROWDYRUFF! For the love of god, if you're not indoors, find shelter as fast as you possibly can! Townsville's in grave danger! Grave, grave DANGER! And if you do not know what a Rowdyruff is, believe me when I say that you are obviously not a Townsviller and that you have NO IDEA how monstrous a Rowdyruff can be!

"Powerpuff Girls, if you are seeing this, **HELP US!!! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!"**

***

Pathie Zimbogous couldn't believe his rotten luck. He just couldn't. First, he nearly crashes into an artificial object in orbit. Then, he ends up crashing anyway, only into the gigantic planet instead of a teeny-tiny satellite. And if it wasn't insulting enough, it turns out that he crashed right into the middle of a full-blown metropolis, and that his presence has apparently scared the living daylights out of the population, which was blatantly obvious by the constant screaming, the rumble of thousands of stampeding feet, and the eventual silence of a seemingly-deserted ghost town.

_"Oh well, at least this species isn't the warrior type. Then things would really turn sour."_ He muttered.

As he observed his surroundings, he couldn't help but admire the basic, functional designs of the skyscrapers surrounding the patch of earth he was standing on. It reminded him of the pictures in the history books back home: back when limited technology created the ever-constant duel between the ambitious architect and the nay-saying engineer. Many designs in that period of history were still considered impossible; but truly elegant architecture became a reality as scientists developed more versatile, synthetic alloys.  

_Hmm, I wonder: What if the technology here is only decades behind the technology back home? That would mean..._

The scout put the thought behind him, reminding himself of his mission, and brought his attention to his MPSD. _"Computer, has the pod been completely de-molecularized?"_

_"The item in question is 100% processed and in storage."_  It replied.

_That's good,_ Pathie thought. _Now I don't have to worry about the pod being raided._  He spoke another command: "_Alright then, begin a scan of the area within a 10 mile radius for any traces of…um…that chemical-thingy we were supposed to look for."_

_"Request scan for chemical Estroxilium-46?"_

_"Yeah, that's it." _

Like a glob of self-aware goop, the MPSD pulled away its black surface to reveal what looked like a circular, travel-size TFT computer screen. After a few bleeps and bloops, three white dots appeared in a jumbled cluster near the display's edge, along with a red dot in the dead center.

_"There are three, highly concentrated masses of Estroxilium-46 point-five miles ahead."_  The disc chimed.

The scout's face could barely hold in his excitement, as his face once again glowed with a smile. _"Only a half mile?_ Great! And to think that this mission was doing terribly…At this rate, I should be off this rock in just a few hours!"__

_"It is recommended that you should conceal your presence before attempting to retrieve the objective."_ The disc warned.

_"Conceal my presence? What for?" _Pathie questioned. _"These inhabitants were running like mice from a housecat! This cowardly species won't be doing anything, computer. They're just too frightened to."_

He began to playfully stroll across the exposed soil, approaching his objective with complete and definite confidence in his success, humming a joyful tune to himself as the glow of the afternoon sun shimmered off his strands of silvery hair. 

_Things can't get any better than this!_ The scout thought.

***

A throbbing headache. Griminess. A drain of energy. Heavy eyes. The repulsive flavor of dirt. Aching bones. Messy hair. And the increasing pain of a bladder in need of evacuation. By themselves, these feelings are just mere annoyances to the average organic life form. But when you combine all of them at once, add in an emotionally fragile personality, and apply them to the body of a young, innocent girl, it creates a state of torment like few people have ever experienced.

As Bubbles slowly awoke from her coerced slumber, her mind was in a state of great confusion. 

"Ugh...what…where…"

Her whole body felt like lead, making it nearly impossible to expose her pretty blue eyes to the sunlight, nevermind getting up from her sprawled position in the grass. 

"Blossom? Buttercup?" She spoke weakly, her voice quivering from her uncomfortable status.

No answer.

"Where are you guys?" 

Bubbles forced herself to open her eyes, the irritation swelling within as the brightness blinded her. At first, she could only make out the massive blue of the cloudless sky, its beauty doing little to console her. Then she started to see the familiar skyscrapers, their towering dominance piercing the air like javelins. 

_I'm…I'm in Townsville,_ Bubbles realized.

She dragged her arm across the ground, preparing to wipe the earth away from her face. As she did so, she inadvertently scooped up the soil that was already covering her body from her head to her toes. The girl felt the grimy, soft substance on her flesh, and quickly made another realization.

_I'm in the middle of the park, _Bubbles thought. _But why am I here? Where are my sisters? What was I doing? And why do I hurt so much?_

Then, it hit her like a sledgehammer to a watermelon: _I was playing catch in the park today! I had caught one of Buttercup's fastballs but she threw it too hard so my glove caught on fire and I had to jump in the lake! And then I had a fight with her when she called me a crybaby, I know I'm not a crybaby! And then…_

Her thoughts were brought to a halt when she suddenly picked up the soft sound of footsteps. They were soft, rhythmic footsteps, making a slight squish in the ground, slowly and slowly increasing in amplitude.

_Someone's coming. Coming to me! But who? Is it Blossom? Buttercup? The Professor?_

The blue Powerpuff shifted her weight from side to side, attempting to get a view of the incoming person, since she was still too weak to use her neck. A couple of jostles later, her momentum grew too strong, and the poor girl rolled right onto her stomach, her face implanted into the dirt. Spitting out the sudden invasion of topsoil in her mouth, she lifted her head upwards with all the strength see could muster…

…and froze as if she had looked into the eyes of Medusa herself.

_Oh, NO! It's…It's…It's a ROWDYRUFF!_ She cried in her mind. _So that's what that ball was! It was a sneak attack! He's gonna try to destroy us, like those other ruffs! What am I gonna do?! I can't fight him by myself! Oh no, oh no, oh no!!_

Her mind in full panic, she tried desperately to locate her sisters, moving only her eyes out of fear of detection. 

_Come on, you guys! Where are you?! _

After more than a minute of fruitless scanning, Bubbles' fright of the freakish Rowdyruff spiked like the static bolts of a Van De Graf generator. The girl was nothing more than a helpless prey, weak and sickly, watching in horror as the vicious, sadistic predator slowly came closer and closer, its evil grin and childish strut prominently displayed.

Her emotions suddenly became a mish-mash of intense angers: Anger at her sisters, for not being there to support her. Anger at the Rowdyruff, who was responsible for her pain. And anger at herself, for acting like a coward and a weakling.

_I may be too weak to fight,_ Bubbles thought, _but I still have one thing that can protect the city!_

She narrowed her blue eyes to a squint, only able to see a fraction of her surroundings. She concentrated her fear, her anger, and her frustrations into them, developing a tremendous cache of energy within. Her vision concentrated upon her source of despair.

And then she fired.  


	4. One's Good Intentions Is Another's Worst...

**Author's Note:** I just want to lend out my thanks to the folks who were willing to spend a piece of their free time to write down a review for my story. It is great to know that there are those who like my writing. However, to anyone who has not reviewed this yet, but are considering it: Your opinions and constructive feedback mean a great deal to me, and is essential in assuring that this story won't become a bloated pile of worthless doggie-doo. Please take the time to comment, and I will try my best in writing as I always try to do with those comments in mind.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

In the humongous, unknown world that is the universe, there are few who are willing to venture into the unknown, worried about the potential dangers and such that could bring catastrophe upon civilization. It is because of this fear of the unknown that planetary armies form the Scout Units. These brave souls are truly the few and the proud, for they put their lives on the line without second thought, braving the cold depths of space and exploring the unforgiving, uncharted terrains of far-away planets with only their wits to keep them alive, save for their MPSDs. 

It is because of this that the title for the first article of the Doctrine of Scout Units is emphasized greatly: _Always expect the unexpected._

Those words had obviously been forgotten by Pathie Zimbogous, for he did not expect to be dodging laser-beam fire from a far-off, camouflaged sentry, nor did he expect any hostile resistance to begin with. In fact, had the initial laser blast not missed his head by an inch, he would've been the victim of a **very nasty Buzz cut, minus the usual $12 fee. **

After what seemed like an eternity, the albino scout finally dove behind the cover of a few large rocks, his heart racing and his lungs hyperventilating. His face twisted into a combination of fear, shock, and utter bewilderment. He cautiously lifted himself up to peek over the rock, only to throw himself back down to elude the retaliatory assault of concentrated light.

The scout cursed under his breath. _"Jeez-Laweez!__ I almost got burnt to a crisp out there! Computer, where the heck did those laser blasts come from?!"_

The disc's display produced a diagram showing pink lines, drawn from the red center point to the far-off cluster of dots. _"According to the trajectories, the laser beams originated from the mass of Estroxilium-46."_

_Hmmm…this planet must consider this chemical valuable, as well. _Pathie thought. _Strange, _I thought **my race was the only one to harness Estrox energy. Not that it matters: I've got to incapacitate whatever's operating that laser, before this planet brings up any more vicious surprises!**__

He barked a command to the MPSD: _"Computer, activate the Defense Shield!"_

The disc's display retreated back under the cover of its self-morphing, plastic material. A flow of tiny, red particles numbering in the thousands emitted from the top of the MPSD. They stayed close to Pathie's body, orbiting around him like tiny fairies, until they reached a self-designated point on a section of his frame. Once they were all in place, they instantly surrounded the scout in a skin-tight grid of blood red, glowing energy, giving him the visual similarity of a character straight from Tron. 

_This shield may not protect against physical attacks, but it should be ample protection from that laser. _The scout thought.

_Here goes nothing!_

With iron determination, Pathie Zimbogous jumped over the rocks that protected him and sprinted towards the sentry. He was greeted with more shots of the volatile laser, but they ricocheted harmlessly off the scout's defense, scattering into the sky like fireflies on caffeine. Closer and Closer he came to his target, now without fear, as the blasts of the sentry frantically kicked into high gear, their distinctive "zap" as chronic as the roar of a minigun.

And when the scout was only yards away from his objective, he dove forward, zoomed through the air like a peregrine falcon, and tackled the sentry with the full brunt of his military strength.

"EEEEEEEEK!"

Just as soon as the scout and his assailant impacted into the earth did the sentry let out a blood-curdling scream, causing Pathie's head to shake like a maraca from the sheer amplitude of its cry. His head lurched back from the shockwave of the shriek, as he pinned down his mysterious adversary with his energy-augmented body, with no intention of losing his hold.

_AGH! What kind of creature screams with such power?! _Thought Pathie, as he tightened his grip around what he assumed to be the sentry's arms. 

The creature was supposedly a bit weak, for it did not take long for Pathie to recover from the tactical disorientation. The arms were pinned down without trouble, and the creature's legs kicked around harmlessly, since Pathie's shins were resting upon its main body. The scout was now able to look at its head…but there was little to see, since most of it was covered by the planet's natural earth.

The creature was obviously quite distressed, for it began to wail in a high-pitched, feminine voice, in a tongue of which the albino scout had no knowledge: "Get off of me, you fiend! Doo-Doo Brain! Get away from me! What did we ever **DO to you, you…you…you**** MONSTER?! Why can't you leave us **ALONE!?!"****

It did not surprise Pathie that his attacker would probably shout (he assumed) derogatory comments at him. The creature had most likely wanted him dead, anyway. Understandable, since he **did frighten off a whole city's worth of inhabitants. But the white soldier was ill-prepared for what came into his vision:**

The creature opened up two light patches of skin and revealed two large pearls of white and blue, complemented with a deep-black center. They stared into the scout's own eyes, their fiery combination of fear and hatred burrowing deep into his unsuspecting soul. Its gaze fixated upon him for what seemed to be an eternity, until they closed again tightly, the creature now sobbing greatly, its tears mixing with the dirt on its face as they trickled off to the side.

The occurrence sent an eerie feeling of familiarity through his skin. Goosebumps proliferated throughout his flesh, the smooth, microscopic hills multiplying like rabbits. _Those eyes…those large, blue eyes…I've seen them somewhere before. But…that would mean- NO! That's impossible! There's no way…is there?_

_There's only one way to find out._

Keeping an eye on his disabled attacker, he slowly reached for his MPSD and tapped the top of the disc. The red particles surrounding his right hand broke off from its grid and slowly receded back to their home. Now the scout could feel the warm, soft flesh of his aggressor, a sensation that was disturbingly recognizable. He traced his hand to the point where the creature's hand would be. As he did so, the creature's eyes followed the scout's hand like it was poisonous cobra slithering against its body.  

Instead of seeing the common bundle of fingers, he saw something even more recognizable: A round, fingerless stump.

_My god…our hands are precisely identical! But there's one thing I haven't checked yet…_

Pathie Zimbogous lifted the same hand from the stump and slowly placed it on the sentry's face. It gasped suddenly in fright and closed its eyes tightly, expecting the coup de grace of Pathie's assault. Instead, the scout wiped away the grime and soot that masked the face of the tear-riddled assailant…

…and immediately recoiled away in indescribable shock.

**_SWEET MOTHER OF _****_PEARL_****_!__ That's not an alien! That's a girl_****!! A pretty-faced, blue-eyed girl! The computer didn't pick up sources of Estrox: It picked up a life form of my own race! **

_I've been fighting against my own species! The species I'm trying to **SAVE! **How the bloody devil did she end up **HERE!? WHY** is she here?! And how come, in the entire blasted universe, she **ATTACKED me?!**_

Pathie looked once more at the sad, struggling figure of the young female: Even now, she was dragging her nearly limp body away from the scout, whimpering to herself like an injured canine. 

_She thought I was going to kill her, the poor thing. _He realized, as his stomach wound up into an empty sickening of guilt. _She must've somehow evacuated from the planet to cure herself with the Estrox here, and saw me as a potential carrier of the disease. That would explain why the MPSD detected such a high concentration of Estrox: She must've taken too much of the chemical into her system. Now she's as weak as a tiny insect! Well, a tiny insect with laser vision, but still…She must be afraid of **everything **now. I would be too, if I lost most of my natural defenses. _

_The girl's not going to survive much longer_ _in her current condition. She needs medical attention. But how am I going to give it to her? She's already quite distressed just by my presence alone! The only way she'll be calm is if I…_

His stomach wound up even tighter.

_Well, this is just dandy now, isn't it? _He thought bitterly.

Pathie brought his MPSD close to his mouth, and quietly, regretfully spoke a disheartening order:

"_Computer, activate…the tranquilizer needle."_

The red particles surrounding his left forearm disappeared into the plastic disc. Moments later, the MPSD slowly created an opening aligned with the scout's arm. Then, with the loud snap similar to a switchblade, a long, thin, hypodermic needle forcefully protruded out of the hole, its length extending a bit farther than his hand. Extending from a device as strange as the MPSD, the needle looked less like a medical tool administered by a friendly doctor and more like a sharp, merciless weapon wielded by a homicidal maniac.

The sound alone was enough to make the survivor gasp in horror, but when she saw the needle itself, the girl was absolutely petrified.

Pathie approached the young girl cautiously, trying to lessen her discomfort with consoling, reassuring words. _"Please don't be afraid, young miss. I'm just going to give you some medicine to help make you feel better. I'm not an enemy. I'm a **friend.** Everything's going to be ok."_

His words were spoken in vain, for the young lady became hysterical as the presence of the long, ominous needle came ever closer to her. "No! Don't come closer! Stay away from me! Get back! Get back! GET BACK!" 

ZAP!

Lasers emitted from the girl's two blue eyes, their pretty but dangerous columns of light homing in upon Pathie's exposed right hand. The scout cried out in pain, and pressed the hand close to his body, his teeth gritting vigorously.

_Blast it! I almost forgot about those lasers!_

The scout dashed towards the frightened girl with the agility and speed of a pursuing cheetah. She tried to fire her lasers once more, but she became powerless to do so when the scout quickly flipped her over upon her stomach and pinned the side of her face to the ground, the rest of her body also pinned down by Pathie's own in the process.

The survivor lost all sense of control. She kicked around her feet and waved her arms like mad, desperate to escape from the scout's strong grasp and the inevitable suffering of the needle waiting to puncture her sensitive skin. She repeatedly cried out "NO!" many times, every time sounding more agonized and terrified than the last, as her eyes literally flowed with salty tears; but the scout's strength was much greater her own. Even if his shield couldn't protect him from her legs and arms, they were simply too weak to cause any damage. 

Using his left shin, the white soldier pinned the girl's left arm into position. He positioned the needle inches away from her flesh. With his stomach wrenching and his eyes ready to tear, the scout slowly began to close the gap between the two of them, being careful as to not make the survivor's grief any greater than it already was.

The girl, totally helpless, let out one, last, pitiful cry: "**BLOSSOM! BUTTERCUP! HELP ME!**"

_I know that you are frightened, young miss, _The scout thought solemnly, b_ut you leave me with no other-_

"YEAAAAARGH!"

The scout's thoughts were shattered like glass when a booming, blood-thirsty war cry violently broke the silence of the ghost town.

_"What the- AGH!"_

Pathie's body was brutally slammed by two flying streaks of energy, their intense power paralyzing his frame. His body tumbled through the air like an abandoned plush and plummeted onto the unforgiving rocks that had once protected him. They broke apart like a flimsy fortress of cards, and the scout lay in a pile of newly-formed gravel, his head throbbing like the bass of a techno-dance beat. 

As the white soldier tried to regain his bearings, he realized that there was a sharp, intense pain within his right arm. He lifted his head up to look at the source: To his lack of surprise, the tranquilizer needle was implanted right through his energy shielding and deep into the said arm, the dosage already flowing into his system.

"_Blast…it…" muttered Pathie. And then everything faded to black. _


	5. Distressful Dreams

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Back and forth…back and forth…back and forth…

"Where on **earth are they?"**

Back and forth…back and forth…back and forth…

"This is not like them. They said they would be back in half of an hour!"

Back and forth…back and forth…back and forth…

In a small, suburban house in the residency of Pokey Oaks, a tall, middle-aged, square-headed man paced from room to room, his mind consumed in a state of relentless worry as the minutes rolled on and on and on upon his watch. The man was normally not one to be troubled so, but when someone enrolled in the full-time occupation of "loving father" has no idea where his children are, it would leave any person with an inkling of empathy in a state of nervous fragility. Even if those children happen to be gifted with "Ultra Super Powers", as one may put it.

"I've been giving them too many liberties." The professor said harshly, chastising himself. "I know that my girls are quite capable of taking care of themselves in the park on their own, but they can't be neglecting their own word like this! I'll have to have a **very long talk with the three them once they come home!"**

The clopping of the professor's shoes gradually increased in rhythm as his anxiety began to get the best of him: "But wait…what if something happened to my girls? Could they be in some sort of trouble? They could be struggling against a monster or super villain without me knowing it! 

"But wait…perhaps they simply just lost track of time. Yes, that's it; Just a misconception of the flow of time. None of them were wearing a watch, anyway…As soon as they realize their tremendously blatant ignorance of their schedule, they'll be zipping back home as quickly as their little, chemical-X powered bodies can take them!"

For a moment, the scientist was silent, his rhythm slowing to Romantic Oldie, his self-assurance soothing his mind like the side effects of a shot of morphine. However, being the over-protective adult that he is, his pace once again jumped into Hardcore Disco as yet another concern gnawed at his conscience: 

"On the other hand…they could be…maybe…would they? **NO!** They're much too young for that! That's right, much too young…that time that they kissed that lonely boy was merely out of sympathy for the hygienically-challenged young tyke. And of course they didn't have any feelings when they defeated those Rowdyruff Boys. No feelings at all! They still wouldn't be in the state of growth to…to…"

The professor halted, plopped onto the relaxing cotton of the living room sofa, and shuddered as he placed his forehand upon the cradle of his hand. 

"Ay-yi-yi…the thought of it alone is too much for me to even speak of."

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

The Professor gasped. "The Girls! They're here!" He cried, as he leaped out of the chair and made for the front door with the grace of a drunken cockroach. The inanimate objects in his path were mercilessly knocked aside in a scene of miniature calamity, as furniture fell to their sides and various lamps, vases, and other fragile structures transcended to the big, perfectly clean house in the sky, leaving behind piles of gritty corpses. Many an object was ruptured before the man was finally able to reach the door.

He swung it open with great speed. "Blossom! Bubbles! Buttercup! Am I glad to-GAAAAAH!"

His initial reaction of joy dropped like a metal ball upon the sight that stood at his entrance: Blossom and Buttercup, hidden beneath layers of earth and grass stains, each held a small, limp body over their shoulders. One had the weeping, pathetic shape of an equally dirty Bubbles; the other held the silent, unconscious form of what could only have been the only form of scum and villainy ever to come close to the ultimate goal of Townsville's evil mastermind; at least, as far as the four of them would know.

The scientist began to stammer. "It's a…It's-a-It's-a-It's-a-It's-a-!"

"Rowdyruff." Blossom finished. "Professor, we need a find a safe place to keep this guy before he wakes up!"

"B-B-But-But what happened?! What's going-"

"**Professor!" Buttercup sharply interrupted. "We don't have time for that! That slimeball nearly took out Bubbles!"**

"WHAT!?"

The blue powerpuff's whimpers grew to a wail of great suffering, her present feelings all too clear to the members of her family.

Now aware of the near-crisis that occurred, the scientist quickly laid out orders. "Ok, first…Buttercup, for Pete's sake, take Bubbles up to the bathroom and use the First Aid kit to help patch her up! I showed you how to use it, right?"

"Yes, Professor!" confirmed the brunette. She promptly zipped up the stairs with her sister in tow.

"What about the Rowdyruff?" Blossom asked anxiously.

"You and I are going to bring him down to the lab," answered the professor, "I believe one of my contraptions should suffice for a secure restraint."

"Which one?"

"You'll see, Blossom. We must hurry!"

The Father and daughter made their way to the basement, with the unfortunate, albino alien in tow, who, as he was trapped within the realms of his dreams, is completely unaware of the upcoming events that were to affect his life forever.

***

Pathie Zimbogous was standing in the middle of what seemed to be the landscapes of Dr. Seuss' ultimate nightmare. Asteroids of bitter, cold ice from microscopic to impossibly gigantic were scattered throughout an infinite realm of space, which was lighted up in a kaleidoscope of colors as if the gods decided to hold a universal disco night for the enjoyment of their creations. Plopped upon one of these chunks, the soldier was supposedly trapped, for he was not willing to take any chances; anyone who has ever dreamed knows that the possibility of controlling the rules of their personal worlds is equal to that of running into a herd of pink elephants being chased by cute little hamsters that were intent on global domination via the economic takeover of the Spork industry.

"_Sheesh, maybe I shouldn't have deactivated the gas mask,"_ said the scout. _"I haven't had such a strange dream ever since I lost consciousness from the body odor of my college roommate." _

_"Well, pardon me for trying to break the World Record for not showering!"_ Cried a distant voice.

Turning towards the direction of that voice, the scout spotted a strange sight: a young entity, similar to Pathie in terms of looks except for long, blonde hair, shades, and casual wear that broke every possible rule of fashion sense, stood on a distant rock, grinning and shuffling around, holding a suspicious bottle.

"_Johan!" Pathie called to his old friend, "__What in blazes are you doing in my dream?"_

_"Well, if ya really wanna know…" _Johan began, "_I was just doing a little hackin' into the deepest, darkest, most repressed parts of ya subconscious, and look what I found!"_

The colors of the abyss suddenly gathered into a single point of space, quickly imploding into itself. For a moment, all that could be seen was a hovering, bright star of light. Then, the colors once again exploded out, except that this time, a detailed work of art appeared upon the black canvas of the air.

Pathie gasped at the sight of the picture's interpretation.

_"Ooooh!"__ Johan chimed. _"Pathie and blonde girl, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-"__

_"Johan!"__ Pathie interrupted, his teeth bared and his voice harsh._

_"What's wrong with you, man?" _ the college drunk said, his laid-back demeanor unfazed, "_That blonde chick's probably the sweetest thang you ever seen! You were always whinin' about never kissing anyone 'sides your mom; she was handed to ya on a silver platter, and whatcha' do? Ya whip out the needle! That was just plain **dumb. Dumber than the time ya 'accidentally' walked into the girl's dressing room!"**_

The soldier had little patience for Johan's mental jabs. "_First of all, Johan, that **was** an accident. And second, the girl was scared to death and in critical condition! I'm a soldier, not some freak who's obsessive-compulsive about the opposite sex! And why should I be listening to you, anyway? You're dead!"_

_"I may have no body, but I'll always be in your heart…friend!" s_aid Johan, applying bad dramatic acting to tease his companion further. "_But anyway…I'm not the only one who thinks ya shoulda gotten to know her! Look over to where I'm pointing!"_

Johan shoved his bottle towards his right, barely keeping steady as the toxic substances continued to diminish his coordination. Pathie, with nothing else better to do, did as he was told, and gasped yet again at an even more surprising sight.

"_Mom?!"___

Yes, placed upon another distant rock was an old, leather-faced woman, dressed in an antique dress and apron straight out of a cheesy commercial from the 50's, only slightly taller than the young soldier himself. Her expression indicated that of great disappointment.

"_Pathie Googlestein Zimbogous, you have certainly gotten yourself into a fine mess this time!" said the woman. __"For once, you had a **reasonable chance to save a damsel in distress and turn your life around, and instead you treat her like livestock! ****Livestock!"**_

_"I did not do such a thing!" _The scout snapped, _"I was only-"_

_"I always told you, 'Pathie, why not become an accountant and settle down with a beautiful lady?" _interrupted Pathie's mother._ "But noooooo- instead, you decide to become a planet inspector! Do you have any **idea what the death rate is for that job? It gave me a heart attack when I heard the news!" **_

_"Yes, I know. That's how you died."_ Pathie said grimly.

"_The death rate wasn't the only reason, my boy." she continued. "_It was also because I knew that the moment you took that job that you'd never see any more women again! You know why? Because_ _inspectors are never allowed to date or even **see **the other sex while away and they spend less than 1% of their time actually being at home!"__

_"Say **what?! **Dude, you got a dysfunction!" _Johan jeered.

_"Shut up, both of you!"Pathie ejaculated, his aggravation approaching the edge of furious rage. __"I got drafted into the military, my race is dropping like flies because of  a worldwide disease back home, I nearly lost my life **twice **since I landed on the god-forsaken mudball, and the two of you want to chastise me about my **social life?! **So what if I find the girl attractive? I can't be pursuing relationships now! The fate of my whole species is resting on my shoulders and every other scout still breathing!"_

Exhausted from his tremendous outburst, Pathie collapsed down to his hands and knees upon the lifeless ice of his floating asteroid. He could see a fragmented reflection of his face as he looked down upon the frozen rock: It revealed an expression of a young man on the edge, a man with tremendous pressures and deteriorating willpower. It revealed…a man that is prepared to mentally break.

Seeing the soldier's dismal state, the two long-gone companions quickly shifted attitudes: Their job was to only guide him through his troubles, not disembowel his sanity.

_"Dude, no need to blow ya top," _Johan spoke calmly.

_"We're only trying to make sure you don't stay a bachelor when you're 80, Pathie." _Mom added.

_"That disease that's effectin' everybody back home won't be around forever, ya know," _Johan continued. _"Whacha gonna do when everything settles down again? Go back to bein' a 'Planet Inspector?' Dude, the only reason ya took that job was because you were too darn scared of girls! If you were all so comfy with the fairer sex, then ya would've known better than to panic and try to knock her out with the needle! Well, it's **you** who got knocked out, really. But that just proves my point."_

_"What I'm trying to say is, ya gonna be in a world of hurt if ya don't improve those social skills. For all ya know, that blonde girl could be a sole survivor. If ya can't get along with her like ya do with anyone else who's notta girl, then all ya attempts to help her out would only worsen things up, for her **and **yourself. Besides, did ya forget your plastic disc thingy got screwed up a bit? That girl may be the only one that can show ya where the Estrox **really** is!"_

Hearing all this, Pathie's state of high emotion quickly shifted from anger to calm realization: as much as he hated to admit it, his deceased college buddy was right on the money. His mission was only a few inches away from going completely down the toilet drain. Chances are that he would wake up in custody of the planet's indigenous population, and the panic that he had caused when he first set foot upon its soil was a clear indication that they perceived the scout as a dangerous enemy. If he can't find a way to enlist the help of the survivor (assuming she was still alive), his own chances of survival- let alone the survival of his people- would be absolutely nil. He did not know about the girl, but the prospect of being permanently trapped on a hostile world –if not dying- was not overwhelmingly appealing.

The scout rose from his pathetic position on the ground, and once again stood with the tremendous pride that is blessed upon those who successfully enter the ranks of the brave, enduring Scout Units.

_"Well, it looks like the two of you got the best of me once again." _Pathie conceded, _"Now I need to get out of this blasted dream. Can the two of you leave my subconscious so I can get out of whatever** actual nightmare I got myself into?"**_

_"No need, my boy," _Mom answered, _"If you jump off your rock and into the abyss, the rush of adrenaline is sure to snap you back into reality."_

_"Please, mom, I've already had enough surges." _Pathie said. _"You know how they can strain the heart."_

_"Son, like it or not, you're in a heap-load of trouble. You better get used to them."_

_"Gee, thanks a lot." _said Pathie scornfully, as he prepared himself for his leap into the empty space.

_"If ya ever see that blonde girl again, be sure to kiss'er for me! I haven't felt a good pair of lips since I got dumped into purgatory!"_ Johan said.

Pathie ignored the request, for he was already diving into the eternal darkness, the unforeseen circumstances of his predicament quickly rushing forward to him.__


	6. Paranoia and Vengence Reigns Supreme

**CHAPTER SIX**

Bubbles. 

For most people, the word means nothing more than the name of the orbs of liquid soap that entertain children with their carefree movements in the air. Nothing particularly special to the average adult, however: Most become preoccupied with their daily labors and unconsciously repress the delight that the floating, transparent spheres gave them in years gone by. 

It doesn't seem like a word that would ever become a name for a girl. A pet, perhaps, but a girl? Yet, for the golden-haired Powerpuff christened with that name, the name fits her in ways that aren't usually anticipated. True, she is "Bubbly cute," as quoted from the Professor himself; but in a sense, it also applies to her emotional stability. Like a real bubble, she coasts on the winds of life with carefree abandon, her innocence and empathy winning the respect and care of those who appreciate her angelic demeanor and appearance. Yet, when someone or something comes along that is ignorant of or angered by this tranquil orb, they don't hesitate to smite that bubble, destroying the happiness and replacing it with an aura of near-inescapable gloom.

Over the course of time, Bubbles has survived through many emotional challenges, from the initial rejection of Townsville to the numerous conflicts instigated by her sibling, Buttercup. But none of her previous problems could compare to what happened ten minutes ago. In fact, the almost-fatal encounter with the sadistic, soulless Rowdyruff has left her devastated, to the point where she was incapable of even speaking about it to the rest of her family, thanks to the constant choking of her tears. So, after patching her up and cleansing her body and mouth of soil, the rest of the family helped her dress into her blue nightgown and prepare her for an early, long-lasting sleep, since it was obvious that she needed some time to recover. But once she was left alone in the bedroom, with her stuffed octopus in hand and the once-soothing hallway light creating a corridor of revealing brightness, the young girl was in a worse situation than before.

Bubbles began to stare aimlessly towards the center of the room. Her grip around her animal companion grew tighter as the inanimate objects began to morph into suspicious shadows. These dark forms varied in size and shape, but they all shared a similar trait. They were all haunting silhouettes of her inhuman attacker, moving silently through the empty black air, as if they were vengeful spirits on the hunt for a living soul.    

Bubbles' eyes darted around the room, as she tried to convince herself that it was only her overactive imagination. But the ghosts refused to disappear from her view. Instead, the shadows began to approach her slowly, emitting a low snicker from their non-existent lips. Had the octopus been a living creature, it surely would've died of suffocation by now, for the girl's iron grasp around its neck was literally squeezing the cotton innards out of the seams of its body. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, their frequent chops similar to a skeleton's cackle, and her face drained of any recognizable color, leaving behind the empty tint of a leper.

Reaching the front of the bed, the shadow's suppressed chuckles slowly increased to that of sinister laughter, as the creepy ambience was sharply broken by the all-too-familiar snaps of lethal steel echoed throughout.

And then…Bubbles snapped.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Within moments, the young, super-powered little girl transformed from a frightened, powerless child to that of a destructive, one-man army consumed by a berserker's rage. The room was lighted in a chaotic swirl of colors as the mighty power of Chemical X blew away the shadows in a flurry of powerful punches, kicks, and the pinpoint assaults of impaling shafts of energy. 

And just as soon as it started, her fury was sharply halted by unison of three, familiar voices, accompanied by the flooding of a fluorescent aura that instantly vanquished the darkness: "Bubbles, what are you **doing?!"**

The blue Powerpuff quickly turned to the three voices: Her sisters, Blossom and Buttercup, and her creator, Professor Utonium, all fully dressed, stared at her with genuine, alarming surprise. They saw the eviscerated remains of the girl's playthings, the scorched streaks and cracks on the walls and carpet, the smashed mirror at the make-up table, and the scarred figure of a bewildered Bubbles, who upon seeing the destruction she caused had collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her feelings of shame and desperation overwhelmed her conscience, forcing a river of salty liquids to fall from the child's eyes.

"Whoa…our room…Bubbles totaled it!" Buttercup said, almost in a whisper, unable to produce the usual, prodding tone.

"My goodness," the professor added, also weak in the throat. "Bubbles, what **happened here?"**

The blue Powerpuff gave no answer.

"Professor," Blossom said softly, "I think Buttercup and I should get ready for bed, that way we can stay with Bubbles and help make her feel safe."

The scientist looked on at the young blonde, fearing for her life. "Okay, then." The professor whispered back, after an awkward moment of silence. "I'll keep an eye on you-know-who."

*************

Down in the basement, in the dim-lighted, spotless collaboration of quarters that is the Professor's laboratory, the intelligent man himself had placed himself upon one of the many office chairs that littered the miniature research facility. In front of him was a control panel that consisted of a complexion of dials, switches and buttons, all arranged in a perfect square formation upon the cold steel of the panel itself. The professor was resting his elbows upon it, which in turn supported the hands that held his head in place so that he could keep his vision upon a certain figure: the limp form of the black-and-white Rowdyruff, laying face-up on the floor of a barren, secluded room that, except for a single window providing Professor Utonium with his view, was devoid of any imperfections. It was like as if someone took a hollow, geometric cube and enlarged it, to the point where a person could walk inside and gawk at the pure symmetry of one of humankind's most essential mathematical discoveries. 

_It's hard to believe how much suffering that Rowdyruff caused today, _the professor thought. _While I'm still uncertain what exactly happened out there- Blossom and Buttercup's descriptions were a bit sketchy- It's obvious that this creation is as ruthless as the first three. _

_But what really bothers me right now is this Rowdyruff's…**inhuman appearance. At least the first three looked like normal boys, but this one…looking at him the first time, I thought that he was a lifeless corpse. Not even natural albinos have such an opaque color of white! And his hair - grey as a senior's. If I didn't know better, I would've assumed him to be one of the vengeful undead, resurrected by the mind of a megalomaniacal genius!**_

The professor let away a slight chuckle. _Well, we scientists all know how ridiculous that would be. All these technological advances over the years and we've yet to reanimate the dead. Casting all fiction aside, it stills leaves one burning question in my mind:_

**_Who__ created this Rowdyruff?_**

_It couldn't have been Mojo Jojo. That evil genius with the observatory on the volcano had already tried to destroy the girls using the first three Rowdyruffs, and ultimately failed. And then…_

He sighed. _No, it couldn't have been Dick Hardley. His interests were in money, not world domination. Besides, the deformed copies he created had turned against him and brought his factory- and most likely himself- down to a flattened heap of ash. _

The professor's eye's narrowed into a burning glare of persecution. _Well, it doesn't matter who created this villain. All I know for sure is that this Rowdyruff is responsible for the shattering of my Bubbles' confidence. When I saw her standing amongst the destruction she caused to her own room out of pure fear, I could clearly see how every drop of happiness was siphoned out of her, leaving behind a frail, shivering body saturated in paralyzing fright. If this creation is anything like the first three, he won't feel an ounce of regret, which will leave me with no other choice but to- _

The professor's train of thought was interrupted when his sight caught a slight twitching within the confines of the makeshift prison.

_And so, the sleeper wakes…_

************

Pathie Zimbogous, slowly reanimating from the sedation, was quickly introduced to three distinct feelings: the coldness of a metallic floor, the stale flavor of the circulated air, and the occasional pangs of discomfort that comes with having severe burns in the most inconvenient location of a biped's body. His eyes were greeted to the sight of an empty room covered by a rectangular grid pattern, with a tinted window on the wall to his right. 

_Well, I have to admit, this wasn't what I was expecting for a cell, _Pathie thought, as he slowly lifted himself up into an Indian position on the ground. _Not even the prisons back in **my world are so basic. Heck, back at home there was never such a thing as "minimum security!" But first things first…*****_

Using an unscathed part of his right appendage, he lightly rubbed the sleeve of his left arm. His senses picked up the squishy complexion of synthetic plastic.

_Hmm, that camouflaging feature works better than I thought. My body's been to who-knows-where and not once did they detect it! _

The scout did his best to suppress his usual grin, not wanting to reveal his trump card to whoever happened to be watching his movements. Once the giddy feeling subsided, he was about to strategize on his means of escaping his confinement when a deep, tinny, solemn voice echoed into the room:

"Had a nice rest, sleepyhead?"

The ominous utterance startled the young scout from the floor and onto his feet. _"Who's there?" he called out, scanning for its source. He received no answer._

_"Listen," _Pathie began, _"I don't know who or what you people think I am, but I can assure you that I am not-"_

"Hmm…what an interesting language," interrupted the voice. "It's not like any I'm familiar with. Almost like an infusion of Russian and Swahili. It would be very interesting to speak to the ones responsible for your creation. However, for the moment that is not important."

_What the heck is this person saying? _Pathie thought, _Curse my hate for linguistics!_

"As you are most likely aware, you were nearly successful today in the destruction of my little darlings, The Powerpuff Girls. It must warm your heart to know that the one you attacked first is now emotionally unstable. There she lays in her bed, once a bright star, now so _paranoid_ that she would obliterate _anything_ she perceives dangerous, even if it was a harmless _shadow_."

As these words were spoken, the voice's tone began to waver in and out of its normal pitch, as if it was slowly being possessed by the likeness of a furious, demonic entity. 

"But now…Now that I have you in my custody, I will make it my _ultimate _goal to make…you…_suffer!_"

Before the scout could realize what was happening, the entire cell was enveloped in a black pit of empty air, giving the illusion that he was in the dark…but his own body was still visible to him, as if he was basked in the glow of a high-intensity searchlight.

_"What the-!__ What the bloody devil's going on?!" said Pathie, now fully panicking at the sudden transformation of the cell._

"It just so happens," continued the voice, "That you are being restrained in my own, homemade 'Danger Room,' a special 'Holodeck' that I invented just for the training of my three little angels. Considering you're supposed to be stronger than them, I'm _sure beating the simulation at Level 13 should just be a piece of cake for you."_

Just as soon as he said that did the blackness instantly give away…to reveal a horde of monstrous, bloodthirsty titans in a hellish setting of a city set aflame, all charging towards the point where a horrified, white-skinned, extra-terrestrial stood. 

_Oh, **fudge**! _Thought the soldier.


	7. When Good Times Go Bad Or is it vice ver...

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup, dressed in their comfy nightgowns, were laid underneath the soft blankets of their Deluxe-size, tri-colored bed. The intelligent redhead, placed on the left, had grasped her shuteye without too much trouble, as her spirit left her body and roamed through her personal dreams. The tomboyish brunette, placed to the right, had also managed to escape into unconsciousness. The sensitive blonde, however, was still wide awake as she tried to get comfortable in her reserved section in the center. Although the presence of her sisters calmed her fears of the shadow, she was still frightened of what horrors she would have to endure if she ever managed to get her rest.

_Oh…this is hopeless! _Thought the blonde, as she finally gave up sleeping and stared up towards the ceiling. _I'm just not sleepy enough. Not sleepy at all. Not since…**he **came._

_Why did I have to be such a scaredy-cat?_ She continued, as regretful ness took hold of her mind._ I'm a Powerpuff girl: a superhero! I'm not supposed to be afraid! If only that doo-doo brain didn't have that…that **needle!******_

Her body shook upon thinking about the weapon that the immoral villain wielded in their encounter.

_If I wasn't so scared of needles that Rowdyruff would've gotten a hard kick to the place where the sun don't shine! And then my sisters wouldn't have to save me like a cat in a tree!_

As soon as she thought that, the loud rumbling of a moaning golem resonated from her torso. The surprisingly high amplitude of the sound was enough to render a shade of cherry red on the cheeks of Bubbles' face.

_Was that my stomach? Wow! That was really loud! _Thought Bubbles, suddenly remembering that she had completely skipped dinner when she was emotionally shattered. This realization also brought on a tremendous ache in her waist, which up until this moment was involuntarily repressed by her subconscious. 

_Aaooh__…I've never been so hungry before. I need to eat something…something **big.** Big like a whale! And I'm not going to get it if I just lay here…_

The blonde contemplated the idea of going down to the kitchen to grab a snack: Although she was starting to feel better, the young girl was still afraid that the Rowdyruff may appear out of nowhere, waiting to strike again. However, she also knew that the professor would probably be still awake at this hour, and would most likely keep her company once she completed her voyage to the humming refrigerator. And the great, physical strength bestowed upon Bubbles at birth has returned to her slightly, which assured her that she would be more than a match for any villain waiting to pounce. 

_Well, I'm going to get a bite to eat, _thought Bubbles, as she snuck her way under the blankets to the front of the bed, _And if any meanies try to get me, then WHAMMO! I'll sock'em good!_

*******

In the secluded quarters of the Professor's Danger Room, Pathie Zimbogous found himself to be a shrimp amongst a horde of starving behemoths. 

There was never a time to catch any breath, for any lengthy pause was sure to bring about his doom, considering the onslaught of fireballs, acid, and gigantic spikes that came about his direction. The titans themselves appeared to be invincible: thousands upon thousands of beams would carpet their hides whenever Pathie attempted a pitiful strafing run, but not even the smallest indication of a scar would ever appear. 

In the soldier's case, however, it proved to be the opposite: even with his natural ability to fly, he still had more than a few close calls with the lethal projectiles. They left Pathie with numerous tears in his uniform, to the point where they barely clung to his body. The exposed parts of his flesh were not spared either, for the fresh wounds stained his albino complexion with small streams of crimson red. And while the monsters showed no sign of letting up, Pathie's strength drained at an alarming rate.

"_GRAH!__ Nothing's working against these abominations!" said Pathie, as he quickly distanced himself from the titans and took refuge in the remnants of a small skyscraper. "_How could this be possible!?___ No kind of organism could withstand laser beams so well!"_

The scout looked over to the horde of monstrosities: Even now, they were quickly approaching his position, their blood-curdling roars echoing through the simulated wasteland.

"_If I can't hurt them with lasers, then by own Estrox-fueled strength would surely be ineffective as well…so what else could I possibly do to stop this torment?"_

_"Pathie Zimbogous, you are a very forgetful person," _spoke a familiar, mechanized voice.

"_What the- Oh, for crying out loud…how could I forget about my MPSD?" Said Pathie, slightly relieved, as he turned his attention to the plastic disc attached to his left arm._

_"You must activate the disc's offensive procedures to ensure your survival, not to mention the continuation of the mission," _continued the MPSD.

Pathie's face twisted into confusion. _"You have offensive measures? I thought you were just a-"_

His words were rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of the mother of all closed fists, which blew right through the fragile wall and impacted the soldier head-on. Needless to say, it caught Pathie completely off-guard, and by the time he regained his senses, he found himself trapped within the grasp of that same fist, which promptly began to squeeze mercilessly.

The soldier's voice cried with pain and agony as the passageways of his lungs began to close in. He felt how his bones slowly began to bend, coming closer and closer to the moment where they would snap like brittle twigs. His mind could think of nothing else except for the inevitable demise that was coming to him…

…but just as soon was he ready to embrace his death did the titan unexpectedly toss him away, followed by another bellowing of pain, only this time it wasn't his own.

 As Pathie slowed himself down to a stationary hovering, he sensed an overwhelming feeling of Déjà vu: he was once again on the brink of losing his life, when an unexpected stroke of luck freed him from his fate at the very last possible moment. The first time was because of the MPSD; the soldier sensed that the device may be the culprit this time as well. He looked down upon it to see what it had done, and was greeted to a most surprising sight: protruding from both of his blood-stained hands was what Pathie could only determine to be meter-long blades of pure, translucent white energy, both shaped in the design of a European, two-handed broadsword.   

_Hmmph__! That little disc wasn't kidding! Although I was hoping I'd get a powerful, long-range missile weapon instead, _thought the soldier, as he examined the twin swords with admiration. _But I guess these will have to do. These blades look like more than a match for the creatures' thick hides!_

Now fueled with a new self-confidence, the soldier flew with incredible speed towards the titan that had bestowed a death grip upon him moments before. Aiming for the thighs, the scout quickly slashed the colossal legs simultaneously, extending his blades in opposite directions while he flew straight through the gap in the middle. The monster wailed at the burning sensations, and collapsed to the ground, incapacitated by the severity of the wounds.

_That's one threat neutralized, _thought Pathie, _Now I must take care of the rest._

One by one, the monstrosities that brought hell upon the soldier were quickly eliminated by the precise, surgical attacks of the said character. Their bellowing echoed throughout the wasteland as they would plummet with a loud crash into the fiery remains of the city. The whole process was so efficient that there was not a single behemoth left standing in a matter of minutes.

Certain that there were no more possible threats, Pathie slowly floated down to the ground. He collapsed to his knees as exhaustion began to overthrow him. He struggled with the feeling, knowing that his captors may decide to reinitiate the torture again, which he would never be able to survive the second time around unless he found a way out, and quickly. 

Judging by all the distance he supposedly covered, he realized that the room had somehow kept him in a stationary position whenever he walked, ran, or flew anywhere. That meant that he would never be able to touch the walls or the ceiling of the room. He could try his luck at burrowing his way out…but the execution would be long and tedious, and he would probably reach a few feet into the ground at best before security would rush in and swiftly kill him. The only option left, then, was to find a way to deactivate the chamber. 

_But how the bloody devil am I going to that if I can't even touch the bleedin' walls!? _thought the soldier, at once frustrated and distressed. 

Bowing his head with nary an inkling of hope within him, Pathie's eyes made a quick glance at the two melee weapons attached to his hands. Upon doing this, the soldier noticed a rather peculiar sight: the blades were almost completely buried into the ground that he rested upon. Having figured out long ago that he was in a highly advanced simulator, it surprised him that very little force was required to pull the swords out and stab new holes into the earth that was obviously the virtual facade of the metallic floor.

_Hmm…they cut through metal as if it was mere butter. Perhaps…perhaps not all is lost…_

"_Computer, what is the maximum length of the energy blades?" inquired Pathie, his words exerting a strong sharpness._

_"When combined into one, the energy blades can extend to their maximum length of one decameter," _responded the MPSD.

_"One decameter!?"__ Pathie yelped. _"That's overkill! I need a length of about half that amount. Is that possible?"__

_"Place your blades together by joining your hands," _answered the MPSD, _"and the rest of the procedure will be automatic."_

Pathie did as he was told without hesitation, for his hunch proved to be correct: He was once again enveloped in a virtual darkness, which could only mean that the torture chamber was resetting itself for another run. As the two swords fused into one massive weapon of destruction, its length grew at a steady, but excruciatingly slow rate. At the same time, it was also gaining an exceptional amount of weight, as Pathie clung to the strength he had left to keep it up towards the hidden ceiling. His sweat was profuse and it mixed with his exposed blood, forming a repulsive, bitter taste when the mixture seeped into his mouth.

It felt like an eternity before the weapon was finally able to visibly penetrate the void, a sight which stole a tooth-bearing grin from the soldier. Shouting a war cry like a desperate marine on the front lines of battle, he swung the newly formed blade in every possible direction he could, forming great gashes of wires and circuits that bled lethal bolts of electricity, until the darkness finally faded away into oblivion. The now-demolished grids of the torture chamber and the single window that indicated his escape route were at once revealed.

Certain that he no longer needed his energy sword, Pathie quickly uttered a command to disable it. The weapon quickly decomposed into the familiar particles and retreated back into the versatile disc. He slowly floated over to the window and cautiously peeked through to see if there was anyone on the other side: He was greeted to the sight of more corridors of lifeless metal, but did not catch any signs of indigenous life. He shattered the window and prudently exited from the chamber.

_"It seems that whoever was keeping watch here must've hurried out at quite a speed," _remarked Pathie, as he observed a large chair that was tossed onto its side. _"That means I'll have quite a bit of company if I don't skedaddle out of this facility."_

The soldier hastily ran off in search of the exit, never taking notice of the enigmatic, night-black substance that rested upon a nearby table in a large beaker, labeled with a slanted intersection of two white lines.

******

Having mustered up the courage to leave the bedroom on her own, Bubbles the blue Powerpuff sat upon one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table. Upon that table, one would see a mess that would send any neat-freak into a nervous breakdown: smears of peanut butter, globs of jelly, cluttered butter knives, and torn pieces of bread and the containers that once held them, all smashed together in every which way. The only thing that didn't show signs of dirtiness was the one little object that resulted from Bubbles' hard labor: A scrumptious peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

"Well, I finally got my sandwich," Bubbles said happily, as she wiped a little sweat from her brow, "Whew! I never knew making them by myself could be so hard." She turned her attention to her mess: "Maybe I should clean up before I eat, though…"

The girl's stomach quickly interjected with a loud grumble.

"Then again, maybe the Professor won't notice!" She agreed, lifting the sandwich up to her mouth and taking a few, tiny bites from it. The time-honored tradition of the mixed peanut paste and smashed grapes between two pieces of white bread proved to be very satisfactory to both her tongue and her stomach. She savored it for every second, and didn't hesitate to stuff herself with greater bites of the suburban delicacy.

When she managed to eat about half of her late-night snack, young Bubbles ran into a little problem…

"Mmmm? Mmmmm! Mmmm-mmmh!"

The poor blonde, perhaps enjoying her snack just a bit **too **much, had bit off more than she could chew, causing the sticky substances of her sandwich to clamp her mouth shut like a clam. 

_Oh, no…I don't want my mouth stuck! _The girl thought, _Everyone'll__ make fun of me! _

She grabbed a nearby glass from a cabinet and zipped her way to the refrigerator for a quick drink, hoping it would help to loosen up the contents. To her dismay, she discovered that the only drink available was the Professor's favorite lemon juice. Not lemonade- just **pure** lemon. 

_Water! I'll use the water from the sink!_

She made her way to the kitchen faucet with haste, her face gradually gaining an expression of desperation. She turned the knob for the cold water and awaited the pure liquid that would save her from her unforeseen predicament. Unfortunately for her, the professor had closed the valves that night in an effort to preserve water, and air was the only thing that came out.

_Aaaahhh__!_

Now Bubbles had two options left to her: She could either use the lemon juice to wash out her mouth and risk upchucking the contents of her stomach, thereby making a humongous mess that would take all night to clean, or she could leave her jaws wired together forever, and spend the rest of her life communicating to the world in an eternal game of charades.

_Oh, if only the professor was with me…_Bubbles thought. _Then I could get out of this mess!_

It is interesting that she should say that, for there was hardly a moment after that statement before Professor Utonium barged into the kitchen, his face as white as a ghost and his hands shaking without any form of control.

Bubbles turned to him, and immediately felt a pang of guilt upon seeing the wretched state her father figure was in. _Oh no, he's seen the mess I made! I'm in deep doo-doo now!_

However, instead of being chastised, the professor exclaimed to her: "Bubbles! Oh, thank goodness one of you are awake! You have to help me, Bubbles! It's terrible! **Terrible!**"

Bubbles tried pitifully to speak, but all she could say was "Hmmm? Hmmm-mmmm-mmmm-Hmmm-Hmmm?" 

The professor, overwhelmed in his panic, rambled like a madman, and his words were as unintelligible as Bubbles'. Since neither could understand what the other was talking about, they both grew increasingly frustrated with each other until the professor started to shake Bubbles with his bare hands, his gibberish raising in tone, while Bubbles immediately went hysterical.

_Professor, what are you doing?! You're **hurting me! **_Thought the frightened little girl, _Stop it, please! _

As if on command, Professor Utonium had suddenly stopped his physical actions as soon as he had started it. His eyes glazed over, his tongue fell silent, and the arms dropped to their sides. After a small moment of awkward silence, the professor's footing slightly began to waver. His mouth dropped open, as if he was in shock, and then he ultimately fell backwards upon his back.

Bubbles, staring at the now-limp figure of the Professor, was even more frightened now. She slowly brought her vision up from the floor were the professor laid, and looked forward….and immediately froze when she saw a certain figure equipped with a familiar needle looking down at the silent body, scarred by countless wounds and a grimace a mile wide.

Consumed by terror, Bubbles could do nothing, except faint.

*****

**Author's Note:** Well, as you all know the school year is coming up soon. While I can't guarantee anything, I can assure you all that I will attempt to keep the chapters coming as well as I can, despite how slow they are developed already.

Also…it's surprising to me that I have received such acclaim from my reviewers. I wish to thank you all for sending out your praise and your commentary (Especially Almaseti: his observations are very blunt and thought-provoking). However, if anyone feels that the story could be improved, be sure to tell me about that as well. Too much praise can easily inflate my ego. (hehehe)__


	8. Trouble Looms Over The Horizon

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

_Sailing on seas of eternity, with nothing to cause worry,_

_Among lands of peace does the joyful dreamer soar,_

_Until reality rears its head, and leaves the blissful fantasies dead,_

_Now awake, the dreamer's joys become no more..._

*****

Up in the bedroom of the three sisters, Blossom and Buttercup were fortunate enough to fantasize about their greatest ambitions as they were exploring their personal worlds. The knowledgeable redhead stood surrounded by millions of cheering admirers in an elegant concert hall. She was accepting the greatest award that the red Powerpuff knew about: A prize from the Nobel committee for working towards the goal for world peace. The boastful brunette was having dreams of glory as well, but in a different fashion. She levitated in the blowing air with pride at a humongous martial-arts arena, proudly accepting a gold medal that adorned the green Powerpuff with the title "The Greatest Warrior on The Face of The Planet." She had just as many witnesses to her treasured event, if not more, as Blossom's private fantasy. 

Both of the young optimists began their speeches…

"People of the world, It is with greatest pleasure that I accept this Nobel Prize from the council; But this never would have been possible had it not been for the great cooperation and support from all the relatives of my immediate family…"

"How're you all doing, peeps? I've worked my butt off from the day I was created to show you, the people, what makes a REAL warrior tick! Hoo-wah! But I'd never been able to do _that had it not been for my greatest fans- my family!..."  _

"Stand up for us and the audience!" The two said in unison.

Looking to the area where they assumed their family sat, they both expected the glowing presence of their father and their sisters. Both expected that Bubbles would be slightly embarrassed. Both expected that the other would wear a look of disdain. Neither of them doubted that the professor would be drenched in tears upon witnessing such a milestone in his daughter's life. But instead of what the two dreamers had anticipated would take place, they both received an image that immediately caused them to have a serious, but momentary case of hyperventilation:

Bubbles and the professor were arguing. Loudly. In absolute **gibberish**. In front of the whole, entire **audience**!

Then, things got worse. A few members of the crowd started to giggle. The giggling grew into subtle chuckling. And to the dismay of both Powerpuffs, it gathered energy until the people unanimously decided to howl in a booming cackle at the most embarrassing family incident in the knowledge of the universe. 

Utterly humiliated to the point where they felt as small as microbes, the two immediately pinched themselves to escape the horrifying nightmare of their shameless circle of relatives…

*****

The two sisters, now uncomfortably arisen from their slumber, found themselves in the silent, shadowed reserves of their bedroom.  The bright-colored blankets were in shambles, twisted around into impossible knots. This left their legs vulnerable to the gentle blowing of the winds through the window cracks, since the traditional design of their nightgowns was not much for protection from the elements of nature. The feeling instigated a slow migration of goosebumps throughout their soft skins, and they responded by involuntarily shivering their bodies.

Sensing the now-dynamic presence of each other, the two young girls turned to see themselves encompassed in the weak glow of moonlight. The moment of surprise was evident by the contortions of their faces.

"You had a bad dream, too?" asked Blossom, breaking the awkward silence that had followed.

Buttercup was hesitant to reply, until a look of doubtfulness from her sister forced her into admittance: "Yeah, yeah- I did. What's it to ya?"

"It was really weird," Blossom said, turning away from her sister to look down at the front of the bed, "I was accepting this prize at a big convention, and it seemed like everything was going to be great; but when I called on you guys to come up to the stage, the professor and Bubbles were fighting with each other, while **you **weren't there at all. Then everyone started laughing…it was so…so **humiliating."**

"Are you trying to pull my leg, leader girl?" Buttercup interrupted.

Blossom sharply turned back to her sister. "Buttercup, I'm serious! Why would I make up some baloney like that?" 

"Hey, don't get your pajamas in a bind," The brunette spurted out, attempting to avoid a conflict for once, "It's just…well, you see…er…um…"

"You had the same dream too?"

Buttercup nodded. "Yeah, it was freaky. I never had a dream like that. It felt…it felt so **real**. Oh, and you weren't there either, so I guess that makes us even."

The redhead let slip a soft chuckle. "You know, I'd thought that it would be Bubbles who would be having the nightmares tonight, but it seems that-"

Her face drooped down in disappointment. "Oh…I think I spoke too soon."

"Hey, she nearly got picked off by that butt-ugly Rowdyruff. Whadya' expect?" Commented Buttercup, as the two realized the spot in the center of their bed was devoid of their blonde sibling.

A moment of silence had followed before Blossom spoke up again: "You know, I'm not really in the mood to go to bed again. Why don't we join Bubbles, wherever she is?"

Buttercup placed her "hand" against her head, near the supposed position of one of her internal ears. "Hmmph. Whatever she's doing, she's being really quiet about it. I can't hear a thing!"

The sudden occurrence of a deafening explosion worked quickly to falsify that statement, as well as to rumble Blossom and Buttercup violently out of the bed. Upon slamming against the carpet floor, the two had immediately experienced a horrible insight that spiked their adrenaline to the maximum.

"The Rowdyruff is loose!" Their voices spoke as one.

Fueled by a powerful sense of imminent danger, the two young superheroes immediately plowed straight down through the floor, the shards of wood and the rags of pink fabric shooting towards the lower level like pieces of mutilating flak metal. In the few milliseconds that they could think, their minds were racing with dreadful, disturbing images: The Rowdyruff, smiling like a sadistic child, surrounded by the lifeless remains of their sister and their "father", waiting with eager anticipation to annihilate the rest of the household. He could be the talkative type, boasting how ridiculously easy it was to strangle their sister to her demise, watching her stare helplessly at her murderer with saturated, leaking eyes. Or maybe he blew up Blossom and Buttercup's loved ones, leaving not a single trace of their family, save for perhaps a random appendage to toss in their face like a discarded toy. 

Upon reaching the main floor, however, they were greeted by nothing more except for the emptiness of their living room. At first, it seemed that there was no true menace, since most of the items were seemingly untouched. But two certain details showed a dramatically different situation: blood drops, tiny but in ample supply, littered around the carpet floor like graffiti, trailing their way towards a gaping hole that used to be the front door of their abode.  The chill of the invading, suburban air did much to augment the threatening ambience.

"Ok, where is that **rotten** freak of nature!?" Buttercup said angrily. "He's gonna wish he was never **born** once I-!"

"Buttercup, look!" Blossom interrupted. She pointed towards the kitchen, where the weak light of the refrigerator shined over the collapsed form of a man in laboratory attire. 

The two cried out their creator's name and hurriedly made their way to his side. They tried whatever means necessary to snap the professor back to life. After desperately yelling into his ear, Buttercup attempted to slap him awake. The professor received two red blemishes on his cheeks; but he made not the slightest movement to qualm the Puffs' fears. Blossom then attempted to get a supply of water to dump upon his head; but the closed valves ruthlessly tore down her plan. 

"No, this can't be happening!" Buttercup cried, her voice intermingled with her bawling. "There must be **some way we can bring the professor back! He can't leave us…not now, not now!"**

Blossom, sitting down next to the professor, made no attempt to reply. She was concentrating all of her brainpower into this problem to top all problems, shoving away her emotions in a desperate attempt to come up with a solution. Buttercup, however, was infuriated when Blossom had supposedly ignored her words of plight. 

"Aren't you listening to me?!" the brunette shouted, her face now inches away from her sister's, the emerald eyes sparking with raging fire.

"Please, Buttercup! Let me think!" Blossom pleaded, taken aback by the sudden anger of her sister.

"Think? There's no time to think! Bubbles is missing, The professor could be **dying **before us, and all you're doing is sitting on your bum! We need to do something **now!" **

**"**Ok, ok! Just stop yelling!" cried Blossom, coerced out of her stupor from the sudden pressure of the situation. "The only thing we can do now is to take the professor to the hospital. If he recovers-"

"He **will** come back! Don't you dare say anything else!" Buttercup roared.

"**When** he recovers," Blossom continued, trying her best to keep her composure stable, "He'll be able to tell us about what happened down here. And if we can't find Bubbles anywhere in the house, then the professor might know where she is." 

"That's it!? That's all we can do!? We should be going out there and tracking down that pasty scumbag so we can put an end to this once and for all!"

"And where do you suppose we should look? Huh? Do you have the slightest clue where the Rowdyruff and our sister could be? We can't go out there searching aimlessly!"

Buttercup shoved her "hand" towards the long archipelago of crimson stains. "See that, Blossom? That's not cranberry juice! And I don't need to be a know-it-all to know whose blood that is!"

Blossom was unable to hold back her emotions any further. Streams of despair profusely rolled down her cheeks as she bellowed out her decisive words to her sister.

"You don't know that for a fact! As far as we know, it could belong to anybody! The only ones who can say for **certain what happened here would be the forensic experts and the professor. Things are just going to be **worse** if we spend all night arguing. Now are you going to help me take him to the hospital or not?!"**

The gleaming eyes, the shine of tears on flesh, and the choking of her sister's voice caused Buttercup's fury to diminish like a cube of sugar in a boiling cauldron. Up to this point, Blossom had seemed unnaturally cool, as if she was indifferent to the welfare of her fellow family members. But the brunette had finally realized that her sister was only trying to do her duty as the leader of a superhero team. It put her mind in a state of guilt, wondering why she ever doubted Blossom's intents.

But those feelings weren't enough to cool her concerns for her blonde sister.

"Ok, I'll help you take the professor," Buttercup responded, her voice weak, "But I'm going to go look for Bubbles as soon as he's at the hospital. Don't get in my way." The last sentence hinted an inkling of hostility.

Blossom sniffled. "I won't, Buttercup. Thank you."

The two young superheroes picked up the limp Professor by his shoulders and flew out of the newly made hole. Their glowing trails of pink and green gradually dissolved in the sea of stars above. 

*****

_Scout's __Mission__ Log- Second Entry, Day One:_

_Urgh__…as you can probably tell by the weariness and loss of enthusiasm in my voice, my mission has run into a few…snags. No, scratch that…the whole mission so far, to be quite frank, has been one gigantic, bleedin' screw-up! I don't even know where to start; All I need is a visit from the diabolical mastermind of hell itself to make me go stark-raving mad. Well, I hope you have a great deal of time on your hands, whoever happens to listen to this someday; this update is going to be a doozy._

_It was only a few minutes after my previous entry that I was assailed by what I assumed to be one of the native populations. Since I was out in the open, I had to incapacitate it; else I would've had a hole blown through me. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that the attacker was actually one of my bleedin' own! Never have I been so shocked upon seeing my own kind, especially one so beau-er…Ahem! Well, I suppose I should describe her…let's see…blue eyes, blonde hair styled into pigtails…average weight, judging by her slender figure…appears to be in her late twenties…around my age…has warm, cream-colored skin that is impossibly gentle to the touch…tantalizing, dainty legs that*Cough-Cough-Gag-Hack-Gag* Blast it! Just once I'd like to keep my composure in the presence of a girl! Wait, did I just say that out loud? Crud. Now I've potentially exposed my personal, **blasted **flaw to an entire council of military personnel. I hope you're amused. Well, I might as well move on, instead of whining like a ninny…_

_I was uncertain, at first, for the reasons why the girl had attacked me…or even how she had managed to get to this rock in the first place… but her hysteria and the massive amounts of Estrox detected suggested she had a near-fatal overdose of the chemical in an attempt to wipe out the disease from her body, crippling her and reducing her mind to delirium and paranoia. It was truly a saddening sight, seeing her reduced to a blabbering wreck.  Since I had no way of reasoning with her, I had no choice but to put her under. But before I could do so, the indigenous life launched a surprise attack on the two of us, leaving me out cold and taking the two of us into custody._

_Don't worry, it gets even better. Upon awaking, I found myself to be in one of their security cells, or at least that's what I thought the room was until it revealed itself to be a virtual torture chamber. I was subjected to a mass offensive of simulated, gigantic behemoths, an experience that has nearly left me shell-shocked from being so close to tasting death. Fortunately, I was able to escape from the cell before I was overwhelmed. _

_While I was navigating my way out of the facility, I was lucky enough to stumble upon the survivor once again, and just in time as well, for the life was being choked out of her fragile body by one of the hostile natives itself! God, it is hard to believe that such…such** malevolent **creatures exist in our universe! I had immediately implemented the tranquilizer needle to quickly and quietly stop its murderous intents, but by the point the monster had fallen into a coma, the girl had already fainted as well. I hastily came to her side, strongly hoping that she had not fallen dead, but I was relieved when I was able to hear the faint beating of her heart. When I examined the girl for injuries, it was to my horror that her mouth was wired shut by a grotesque slime, forced into her mouth in order to hinder her capability to breathe. No wonder she had fainted; with the main channel blocked, our visibly non-existent noses barely provide enough oxygen to keep us stable. _

_ But I knew I had no time to fix this, especially when I had wounds of my own in urgent need of attention. Carrying the unconscious girl in my arms, I at once made myself an exit route with the use of my natural abilities and flew away to safety as fast as my Estrox-fueled body could take me._

_This brings us up to the present moment. I'm not sure whether the girl has recovered from the overdose or not, but I'd rather not deal with more headaches. The goop in her mouth appears to merely keep her unconscious, so I plan to let her rest for the night while the two of us take refuge in the planet's remote forestation. Just in case, however, I have activated the disc's restraints so that she can't go on a rampage. I don't blame her, though.  I bet she's been through a lot the past few days. So have I._

_Once morning rolls in, I plan to remove the substance so that she can speak to me. Hopefully, the side-effects of the overdose will have worn off by then, that way she can share with me the location of the Estrox needed for the success of the mission. Then I'll be able to take her away from this living nightmare, although chances are her life will never be the same. Sigh…Well, it didn't work well for me last time, but I'll say it anyway: Wish me (and the girl) luck. End recording._


	9. Curiosity Kills The Mind

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, it has been quite awhile since I've updated. About a month or so, as far as I can recollect. Clearly, a good deal of you must've figured I had given up on this story. I can assure you that is not the case. Being a high school student, I can only work on this piece when I can afford the free time, which is why I finally resorted to gluing my butt to the chair and not getting out until this latest chapter was complete. It may be up to expectations; it may not be; but somehow the story must go on. 

As always, commentary is appreciated.

Just one last note: the last part of the chapter may perplex some and strike a sensitive chord with others, so please analyze it carefully before considering writing a lashing critique. 

**CHAPTER NINE**

_Cree, Cree, Cree _goes the crickets. _Hooo__, Hooo goes the owl. _Whiii-oooo___ goes the carefree winds, flirting with the sensitive branches of ancient bark.  
These and more are the constant bits of ambience within the confines of a virgin forest. This is especially so when the midnight moon and her legions of tiny soldiers provide a sanctuary for the usually nervous creatures- save for any nocturnal fiend waiting to earn itself a decent meal. Tonight, however, the usual hustle and bustle of the woods intermingled with wild gossip amongst the animals. Not that they spoke as humans do- it is a relatively unknown fact that the common forest species can communicate with their fellow comrades just as well as humans. The dominant species just doesn't have the capability to understand it, with the exception of a certain few._

_"Have you seen, by any chance, the two humans by the Grand Tree?"_

_"Yes, yes…what are they doing here?"_

_"I don't know, but it looks like one of them got hurt."_

_"I'll say. I've not seen so much blood since poor Flower got shot to pieces."_

_"You don't suppose they're hunters, do you?"_

_"Good heavens, no! They are human litter. Mostly harmless."_

_"Mostly!?"_

_"Well, some of them do learn to use the boom sticks early-"_

_"Great, as if the local hawk wasn't enough trouble. We should drive them out!"_

_"Don't be paranoid! They are young humans; they are supposed to be with their mother- instead, they are alone. Hardly a threat, except perhaps for the foolhardy insect."  _

_"Humph! You speak as if you know these creatures. Yet I find that highly doubtful."_

_"This coming from someone who spends the majority of their time digging tunnels into the ground? You probably know less about the human race than a whole clan of herbivores!"_

_"Why, I oughta bite a hole in your wing, you arrogant know-it-all!"_

_"Bring it on, Fuzzy!"_

_"Prepare to taste the wrath of my enamel!"_

_"The same for my Beak of Merciless Death!"_

The two quarrelers engaged each other in brutal, vicious combat. They pummeled and maimed whatever part of their adversary's body was left vulnerable to a critical blow. However, the fight proved to be short-lived, for an unexpected persona soon intervened and promptly bonked the two on their heads. Stunned, the two were now sprawled out upon the cool earth, rubbing the tender bumps newly conceived on their noggins.

_"Ow! Hey, that's not fair!"_ Whined the fuzzy fighter.

_"Who on earth has the nerve to-"_ Began the winged warrior, but he immediately cut himself off upon seeing the one who prematurely ended their battle. _"Oh, it's you! The Protector! My apologies, ma'am: I did not mean to be so rude."_

The Protector blushed from the bird's sudden gentlemanly behavior. _"Aw, shucks, there's no need to be so nice and formal."_

_"But there is, since you do so much for all of us living in this grand forest." _Continued the bird.

The furry mammal, fed up with the bird's antics, rebutted with a statement of the sad, sad truth: _"Oh, for Pete's sake! You're only being nice to her so you can avoid getting the riot act!"_

The lashing accusation elicited a soft, but vicious hiss from the beak of the bird, but the winged animal quickly hushed himself upon seeing the Protector's doubtful glance.

_"Speaking of which," _said the Protector, her tone more assertive, _"Why were you two fighting? I thought you were best friends!"_

The bird and the mammal up righted themselves. _"Well, you know how we can get rough in the middle of a heated discussion," Said the feathered creature, attempting to remain dignified._

The Protector rolled her eyes. _"Oh, brother…well, what was it about this time?"_

_"You mean you haven't heard?" _Inquired the mammal, _"There are two human children by the Grand Tree looking like they've been chased by a mountain lion all day!_ _One's out cold and the other's seriously wounded. Everyone else is terrified of them, although my winged comrade here says that they're not anything to worry about. We had disagreed on that point and…well, you know the rest."_

_Hmmm…what would a couple of kids be doing by themselves so deep into the woods?_ Thought the Protector. _If what the bird says is right, then they're not here to shoot anyone. And it doesn't sound like they're camping for fun, either. So what other reasons could there be?_

_"Alright, you boys, I'm gonna let you off easy today, but on one condition." _Said the Protector.

_"And what would that might be, Noble Guardian?" _questioned the bird in a formal tone, the eyes of the mammal rolling as a result.

_"Go around to the others and let them know that I'm going to check out the humans, and that they should get on with their business. The last thing we need is a panic the size of a Sequoia."_

The mammal nodded his head in acknowledgement. _"Sure thing, missus!"_

_"Yes, Ma'am!" _added the bird, tossing in a military salute.

The group separated into their respective parties and began their trek towards their objectives: The protector, investigating the presence of humans, and the other two creatures, spreading the good word like faithful messengers. However, as the protector made her way through the maze of bark and branches, she suddenly remembered another little issue she wished to settle.

She halted and raced back towards the duo: _"Hey guys!"_

_"What?" _replied the mammal.

_"One other thing: Stop calling me 'missus' and 'protector' and all those other fancy-schmancy names. Just call me Bullet! You sound like brown-nosers every time you do that!"_

And with that, Bullet continued her way towards the resting place of the two human interlopers, leaving behind a guffawing mass of fur and a ruffling, bewildered stock of feathers.

*****

Bullet, to the naked eye, has the appearance of the typical woodland squirrel: chocolate-brown fur, a miniscule, four-legged body, a curvaceous, bushy tail, and a pair of buck teeth whose size is misleading to their bone-shattering talents (anyone unfortunate enough to be bitten by such powerful jaws can testify to this, albeit with much humiliation). Unlike the typical squirrel, however, she is not one to be mere fodder for the pellets of a child's bee-bee gun. In fact, the young creature is more likely to attain her own stock of acorn ammunition and unleash her own signature hail of ferocity upon the hapless, immoral little brat (hence her well-earned name).

Bullet, to be quite frank, is a squirrel with unrivaled superhuman- er, squirrel - traits. She has incredible muscle power, lighting-fast flying techniques, and the unusual capability to store items in her mouth nearly 30 times her size (meaning she could trap a full-sized human in her cheeks if she wanted to). And how does a little squirrel obtain such abilities? Why, give it a drop of Chemical X, of course!

Before Bullet had become the superhero she is now, the squirrel had a near-tragic run-in with the local eagle, her life spared only because of the sudden arrival of Bubbles the animal-activist Powerpuff. Because of her critical condition, Bullet was brought to the abode of the blonde, where she rested for the night in a small, cardboard box, although not very comfortably. Concerned for the squirrel's welfare, Bubbles had discreetly added a single drop of Chemical X into the creature's drinking water, hoping it would be enough to revitalize the young mammal; and the rest, as they say, is history.

Although the super squirrel enjoyed working side-by-side with the Powerpuff Girls as their cute little sidekick, the allure of her natural habitat proved to be too strong. With tearful farewells, Bullet and the Powerpuffs parted ways, and the versatile forest creature established herself as the guardian of her natural home. Of course, she took care never to forget the young, joyful, golden-haired little girl who had the benevolence to rescue her that faithful day. Besides, a child who is capable of fluently speaking "Squirrel" (mainly composed of words like "cheep," "cheep," and –what else? - "cheep") would be a staple in anyone's minds, human or otherwise.

Of course, now Bullet is heading towards that very person, whom is unconscious and restrained; the resulting events may prove for better or worse.

*****

Pathie Zimbogous, his energy expelled and his uniform in tatters, rested upon a branch and gazed upon the stars above. He was trying to see if he could pinpoint the location of his faraway home amongst the constellations of the night sky. Despite squinting, staring, and trying his absolute best not to blink, the pursuit soon came to be hopeless. Besides, the various scars left over from the previous incidents were still tender, therefore messing with his concentration.

_"Sigh…well, I was never much of an astronomer." _Said Pathie. _"Come to think of it, I haven't been much of **anything lately. Sure, I've managed to execute a real-life 'Damsel in Distress' scenario successfully, but I still have 2 billion other lives to attend to."**_

A groan came out. _"Oy, I feel absolutely terrible right now. Had I been a scout with some skill, I'd be blowing this Popsicle stand by now. Instead, I've had the worst day in the history of my entire life. Heck, this even beats the time Johan convinced me to dress up as an evil clone for the Halloween party." _

He floated downwards to the base of the giant tower of bark. Here, a bare-bones encampment awaited him, consisting of a small, translucent dome on the ground (serving as shelter), a puddle of water that had cleansed his wounds earlier (along with assistance from the MPSD), and a square cube in the center emitting a faint aura of light and warmth. 

_"Now, where did I put the girl?" _The soldier asked himself, scanning the area from left to right, _"Oh, now I remember- She should be sound asleep in the portable resting pod. Well, I might as well join her. No point in freezing myself to death out here especially since my uniform got all torn up."_

In moments, the soldier flew over to the dome and levitated above it. Mumbling a command to his disc, the top of the shelter peeled away at its own exterior until it split open like the mouth of a Venus fly trap. Inside, the young, blonde girl in a nightgown was revealed, her eyes closed and her back upon the ground. Yellow particles anchored her arms and legs like indestructible rope, assuring that she was incapable of movement.

Pathie couldn't help but stare in awe at the pure beauty of the lady. So youthful and innocent. If only she had not been covered in filth, the soldier would've probably treated her more kindly- then again, the soldier would've also died from a fatal laser shot. How ironic.

_"Well, what's past is past. Now that she's free from the grasp of the indigenous life, the two of us should be able to get this mission over with in a jiffy. And if not…"_

Pathie shuddered. He didn't want to think of the alternative. Not now. Not ever.

Lowering himself, the soldier soon found himself laying by the girl's side, his frame sinking into the soft, leather-like floor. He took care not to get too close to her; the last thing he needed was to have his hormones reach critical mass. Pathie twisted onto his side, and took another moment to admire his company's prettiness.

_"This pod is actually designed for one person only," _he said to the girl, _"But as long as no one attacks us we should have ample space for the both of us. Of course, if someone does…well, let's just say I'm glad you're still under." _

_Gee, it's so much fun talking to a sleeping body. I'll be a ladies' man in no time! _He thought bitterly.

Pathie turned his attention to his disc. _"Computer, disable the heater and close up the pod. And let's hope nothing comes knocking on our door tonight."_

The cube decomposed into a school of particles and swam back into the scout's uplifted disc, pitching the couple into the dark of the night. Then, the opening began to slowly clamp together, sealing the military man and the unknown survivor into a chamber of high-tech protection.

_"I'll see you in the morning." _Mumbled Pathie, as the faced his back towards the young woman and readied his weak body for slumber.

*****

Sleeping Pod. The name of the standard quarters for the ever-occupied planet inspector is simple, as the designers were never ones to come up with fancy acronyms (unlike the typically "holier-than-thou" contributors to the military's ever-progressing arsenal and gear.). Like any shelter, it comes with features to ensure maximum comfort: A floor layered with soft fibers, allowing the user to sink into blissful rest, even without a pillow; a protective shell formed from flexible synthetics, assuring easy access inwards and out while blocking off any invasion of severe weather conditions; and powerful anchorage that ensures the pod will stay in one piece. 

Of course, considering the constant threat of danger inspectors have to endure with each second of their lives, some unconventional methods borrowed from military research had to be implemented to assure its appeal as a safeguard against imminent hazards. First (and this is not in any particular order of vitality), electric generators were integrated into the shell, for the purpose of fending off initial attackers with intense electrocution. Second, the thickness of the shell doubles upon electric discharge, morphing into near-indestructible armor, at the cost of having a comfortable amount of interior space. Because of this, having more than one occupant is not recommended by the manufacturer, unless, say, two lovebirds were looking forward to an intimate embrace.

The third, most salient addition was not the decision of the original designers, but of the higher-ups in the armed forces who adapted the shelter for their scout units. Highlighting the glamorization of powerful weaponry typical of army officials, the shelter is equipped with particle-tech, the same used in the MPSD, for the purpose of mutating a tiny shelter into a lumbering, walking vehicle of mass destruction. Needless to say, it is a means of last resort, in the case of when a scout unit is hopelessly overmatched and is in need of serious firepower. Considering the various functions that particle-tech provides, the resulting armory proves more than sufficient for surviving a Scout's worse-case scenario. In truth, "sleeping pod" is as misleading a name for the shelter as "minigun" was for the devastating, automatic Gatling of old.

*****

_"Hmmm…either I have a fly in my eye, or I just saw an albino kid, dressed up like a stalker, fly around like a hummingbird and take refuge in a giant metal rock, which just happens to open and close like a flower bud."_

Now Bullet was beginning to understand why the other residents were on the brink of going wild. Very few, besides Bullet herself, had even seen such…**unique** specimens. Any creature able to fly gracefully without wings would be sure to shock the average forest animal. Something was still gnawing at her conscience, however: This particular human looks nothing like the trio of talented girls she befriended not so long ago. Yet, surely that creature must be one of them. Nowhere in the human populace did she spot anyone else with such prominent traits. 

_"If I'm going to find out what's going on, I'm gonna have to play detective." _Bullet concluded.

The squirrel, suppressing her powers to keep her stealth, quietly infiltrated the encampment. Thanks to the usual forest chatter, the grinding of her paws against the earth as she dashed from cover to cover was inaudible to anyone besides Bullet herself. Once close enough to the bud-rock, Bullet lowered her pace to a near-standstill. She stared at the peculiar chunk, trying to pick up any opening that would allow her to get a peek at its inhabitants, while circling it with utmost prudence.

Nothing.

_"Now what?"_ Bullet whispered to herself, _"Hmmm…maybe if I look where the kid opened it…"_

The squirrel began to rise effortlessly over the rock, much in the same way the albino child had done so, albeit not as speedily. Her path contoured to the surface until she was directly above the mysterious chunk.

_"How did he open up this thing? It looks as smooth as a river pebble," _Bullet pondered. _"There's got to be some hidden tugger or clicker in there."_

Her curiosity pushing her further, Bullet lightly touched down upon the smooth exterior…

…and was immediately greeted by a traumatic assault of dancing electricity, catapulting the shocked forest creature like a suicidal kamikaze into the tremendous bulk of the Grand Tree's tough bark. 

*****

_Oh no…dear GOD no! Not now! Aaagh!_

Poor Pathie. For once, he was hoping that he would get a decent slumber. He hoped quite pitifully that no potential enemy would be coming to disturb his rest. Now he realized that it was simply too good to be true. Someone just **had** to come along and set off the defensive measures, therefore dramatically shrinking the interior to the point where he was forced, to his dismay, to roll right on top of the unconscious girl. His moral reasoning crashed head-on into his primal instincts, causing a feeling of nausea that melted his nerve like candle wax. 

_Get out, Pathie…you must get out…get out, before you lose your control!_

_But this feeling…this growing, pleasant feeling-_

_No! This is wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong! Where is your dignity!?_

_Oh, just for a little while, I'm not causing any harm…_

_Yes, you are! All it takes is one little spark, and then you'll destroy the whole foundation of your soul before you know it!_

_It's not like she's complaining-_

_Of course she's not! She's unconscious and restrained as well! Do you have any idea what you'll be committing if you continue?!_

_But…but-_

_You're a soldier, aren't you? Aren't you?! Or are you nothing more than just a soulless incubus, interested in nothing more than cursing all females with your unquenchable desire!?_

_Soulless?! I care for her! I don't want to harm her-_

_How can you truly care for her when you barely know her? The only thing you DO know is that her flesh entices you. You only know her as much as you'd know a doll!_

_But, I've never had a chance to do this! And I may not get another!_

_It is not worth committing an **atrocity**! Get out! NOW! Before it's too late!_

The soldier, consumed in a conundrum of powerful emotions, frantically tore an opening with rippling strength. He exploded out of the shelter, crying out in a long, resounding, roar of ferocity, prepared to tear apart the cruel instigator of his psychological torment. 

He found himself amongst nothing more than trees and shrubs.

Defeated, he collapsed to the earth, inconsolable, and wept. 


	10. One Serving of Jump to Conclusions, with...

**Author's Note**: Well, history has repeated itself! I only wish to briefly offer my deepest apologies for delaying the latest chapter for so long. Oh well, at least I managed to keep an average of one chapter per month (although I understand that's a long time to wait). Regardless, please feel free to review openly, for a writer needs constructive critique to improve oneself. No, I won't promise to update sooner if you do: but the commentary is still appreciated.

**CHAPTER TEN**

In the ravaged laboratory deep within the shattered Utonium residence, a young, redheaded girl observed the destruction that had occurred. Needless to say, the sight was chilling to the bone: The Danger Room, the simulator that provided priceless ways to advance the skills of the Powerpuff Girls, was now just a mural of melting gashes in whichever direction one would look. On the chilling tiling, a long, snaking trail of blood droplets drew a path all the way up to where Blossom and Buttercup had found the professor. The sheer amount of the crimson substance induced a pale sickness into the super powered trio's leader. She would've bawled outright, but she did not have the energy: the ungodly hour of the early A.M.s sucked it away like a vampire.

An essence of nausea gathered into her stomach, threatening to instigate regurgitation. Blossom fought it back as best as she could: She needed to determine whose blood stained the household. Unlike Buttercup, who had run off without a word after the Professor was dropped off, Blossom wanted to eliminate all uncertainties. But she was still afraid of whose sample would match the trail before her. The things that might have happened here….

Blossom shook off that ominous thought and proceeded with the examination. A small dropper and a transparent slide were acquired from a nearby drawer. The tip of the dropper lightly penetrated a small puddle of blood. Blossom squeezed, and the substance oozed upwards. Moments later, that same sample plinked into the slide, forming a tiny circle. 

The slide was placed into the slot of a highly advanced DNA Analyzer. "I'll need those other samples now." Blossom said, slightly trembling. 

A slow hover to a suspended cabinet revealed what she needed: A catalog of preserved blood tissue, made to analyze the difference in the girls' composition (due to the chemical X) and regular folk- specifically, the Professor. She chose the required slides and gently shut the container.

_Now, for the moment of truth…_

The device before Blossom had a simplistic appearance: a jagged, molded box, with two slots, a single button, and a tiny LCD display. Using the DNA Analyzer is just as fundamental: insert two slides containing DNA, press the button, and the display would show how close (by percentage) the items match. A very low number indicates different species. A number in the middle shows similar organisms (such as two people). Anywhere near one hundred, of course, is an exact match.

Blossom prayed for a mismatch as the Professor's tissue was received.

_Bzzzzzzzzzz__…Ding!_

The number popped into existence: **37%**

"That counts the professor out." Blossom reacted. "But then…that would mean…Oh, no…"

She didn't have to try the other tissue. All logic pointed to Bubbles. It all made sense now: Her sibling, unable to sleep, went down to the lab looking for the Professor. Then, the Rowdyruff had escaped by thrashing the danger room, and…and…

_She might not even be alive! _Blossom realized. _That Rowdyruff…he's a sadist…a monster…a demon…an abomination!!! He's worse than all of our archrivals combined! How could he do that to Bubbles!? How!?_

With a sudden shout, Blossom swung an arm upwards and crashed it down into the Analyzer, reducing the tiny machine to a pulverized pile of nuts, bolts, and circuit boards. 

_This tragedy…I can't hide it from people forever. That fib I told back at the hospital won't hold ground.  Everyone's going to cry murder, and go after that albino Rowdyruff, and they'll get themselves killed!_

_Buttercup had the right idea, _Admitted the redhead. _We've got to find that scumbag before he can cause any more harm! And I think I know where he may be hiding…_

Blossom, her genius working on overdrive, highlighted the most likely suspect: Mojo Jojo. He, besides the late Dick Hardly, had attempted to make artificial Puffs of his own for evil purposes. In fact, the maniacal monkey had instigated the creation of the first Rowdyruff Boys, a trio of pure villainy that was nearly successful in wiping the Powerpuff Girls out of existence. Of course, that plot had failed: But Mojo has been known to repeat his performances. All of these facts led to the conclusion that Blossom should pay a visit to the monkey's observatory.

But before Blossom could take flight and head to Mojo's home, the combination of stress and exhaustion finally conquered. Not two seconds passed before Blossom fell out of her hovering path and into a nearby couch. She fell further into the deepest sleep of her life before she even realized what was happening.

Fortunately for her, her feisty sister Buttercup had the same train of thought. The slumbering redhead can only hope the brunette is having better luck in her fight with the persistent sandman.  

***************

"Open up, Mojo!"

**BAM! BAM!**

"C'mon, Mojo, I know you're in there somewhere!"

**BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!**

Buttercup, being the hot-headed heiney-whooper that she is, had flown straight to the home of Mojo Jojo. Being one to bash first and ask questions later, she had crashed through the ceiling with megaton force, expecting the evil primate to be cackling, like a psychotic, at a restrained Bubbles on the brink of losing her life, while the Rowdyruff would smile a serpent's smile. Instead, she found the main room occupied with nothing but the monkey's various inventions of destruction, along with the typical couch and television. Buttercup never gave up that easily, though: she figured that Mojo was taking refuge in his bedroom, which of course had only one way in or out. Unfortunately for her, the door was fortified with nine feet of Titanium Alloy, a fact that revealed itself after Buttercup tried unsuccessfully to kick it down. After hopping around on one leg like a bunny rabbit for two minutes, the brunette resorted to driving out the monkey with a combination of booming bangs and the yelling of her slightly raspy voice. And she has done so for nearly half an hour! 

"I'm gonna whack on this door for as long as I have to! I'll scream at the top of my lungs! I won't let you rest a **wink** until you tell me where my sister is!" Buttercup bellowed.

She proceeded to whip out the most cruel, torturous technique ever cursed upon a suffering sleeper: the paralyzing waves of a sonic scream. The cry rumbled the very foundation of the observatory, shaking the contents within like jumping beans. But hardly a moment passed by before the fortified finally door swung open, albeit in a sluggish manner, revealing Mojo Jojo in all of his baggy-eyed glory.

The scream was cut short when Buttercup saw the pathetic condition of the monkey: His green-tinted face twisted into a teeth-baring frown. The eyes were bloodshot, like two orbs of pink lemonade.  His blue pajamas were wrinkled and tattered. And his hands squeezed into vibrating fists.

The sight of this so surprised Buttercup that she could not to anything, except peep out: "Um…hi?"

"**WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU WANT!?"** Mojo exploded, the force of his cry blowing Buttercup away. "Do have the slightest idea what time it is? It is 1 o'clock in the morning! Not the evening, the morning! This is the time when **normal** people are quietly, peacefully resting in bed. But instead, you **cursed Powerpuff Girl insist on making this entire racket at this ungodly hour, rambling in nonsensical gibberish about your sister! Are you not aware of the concept of sleeping? What **every animal in existence** does to rest? Or do you spend every minute of your wretched life harassing everyone and destroying everything like wrecking balls!?**

"I, Mojo Jojo, may be a super villain, but I do not deserve this treatment! I demand you tell me the purpose of this torture that you strike upon me!"

Buttercup, sprawled on the ground, gathered her bearings and up righted herself. "Waitaminute," the brunette said, "You're telling me you have **no** idea what's happening?"

"Of course I don't!" Snapped Mojo, "I have spent my day away in my research, plotting my evil plots, and I would've executed some of my plans too had I not lost track of the time. Once I was done, I was overwhelmed with exhaustion from the time and had to go to bed to revive myself. And then **YOU arrived! You cursed little brat!"**

"Hey, how do I know you're not lying through your stinkin' teeth?" Buttercup retorted, pointing accusingly at Mojo.

The monkey let out a cry of frustration. "You fool! You think I spend every moment devising ways to destroy you?"

"**YES!"**

"Well…you're probably right. But still- I had nothing to do with whatever the heck you're babbling about! Now it's late, I've had a long day, and I'm losing my patience! **GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!**"

And with a speed that caught Buttercup completely by surprise, Mojo grabbed her, barged through the front door of his home, and promptly booted Buttercup into the air. This action was humiliating enough in itself, but the fact that Mojo's front door was actually at the top of the volcano meant she had a long, long way down to the ground. Unfortunately, being caught off-guard scrambled her wits. She plummeted like a brick, crashing headfirst. Luckily for the brunette, her superpowers greatly augmented her resilience to hard falls, so she only had to bear the embarrassment of being halfway submerged into the earth, leaving a pair of legs kicking up to the air. Once she was able to pull herself out of her unusual position, she spat the soil out of her mouth and rubbed her throbbing noggin. The sound of general cursing and the slamming of a door could be heard high above.

_Mojo's not the one behind this?_ Buttercup thought. _If he's not the one, then who is!? Who else would make some rotten punk Rowdyruff to hurt my sister!?_

She brushed the recent stains of dirt off her pajamas. _I'm gonna have to keep on looking. That snot-ball can't hide from me forever. I gotta save my sister from this bad guy- no matter what the cost! _

Once again, the pint-sized superheroine took off into the sky, her determination for resolution fueling her body like never before.  

**********

_"I'm…so pathetic…"_

The forest, usually abound with noise, had suddenly halted. All was silent, as if the trees and animals were shocked beyond belief. The eerie atmosphere did not help the white soldier's mood: his eyes were bloodshot, a testimony to the continuous rubbing of his teary face.

_"I am truly pathetic," _Pathie repeated, peering over to the girl now lying out in the open, covered in a makeshift blanket, but still restrained. _"I've lived my post-college years on the brink of meeting death, defying all odds on distant hellholes, getting the impression that I was a real tough guy. Then, this **blasted** girl shows up, and I realize I'm still a bleedin' sissy! A weakling! A namby-pamby! And all those other names that I can't think of right now!"_

Pathie proceeded to plant a roundhouse into the nearest maple tree. The thick trunk snapped in twain like a twig.

_"If that blasted virus didn't start ravaging my planet, then I would've never been drafted and I'd live out my life in relative peace. Well, as peaceful as inspecting planets can get. Um…perhaps "peaceful" isn't the right word. Ah, the heck with it! I know what I'm talking about!"_

_"Oh, really?"___

The sudden occurrence of a new, masculine voice startled the soldier silly. Another survivor, hiding in the woods!?  _"Who's there?"_ called Pathie, looking back and forth amongst the trees.

_"Do you really think that spending your years isolated from society is a pleasant lifestyle?" _spoke the mysterious voice, its tone suggesting disappointment. _"Out of all people, I'd never expect **you to become an eccentric hermit."**_

_Who in blazes does this guy think he is?_ thought Pathie. _"Who are you to make such remarks?" he called again, attempting to follow the source of the voice. The task was proving to be quite difficult. The voice seemed to come from all directions._

_"Pathie Zimbogous, I know you better than you know yourself," _stated the voice. _"I have been by your side ever since you emerged from your mother's womb. I was there when you first learned how to fly, and I witnessed the joy of your accomplishment. I was there when you left home for college and secretly took the advanced courses in self-defense, because you knew you couldn't cut it in life with just a Creative Writing major. I was there when you had your 'incident' in the girl's locker room, and became forever fearing of them because of the way they treated you afterwards. I was there when you realized that your ultimate decision to become a planet inspector caused the death of your mother, the only person in your immediate family left.  I was there as well when you heard the news at your distant space station that the sudden arrival of an unknown virus had killed everyone you grew up with, thereby making you the sole survivor of your community. And I was there, right beside you, all the days you endured being molded into a military scout, a procedure that was an absolute culture shock, even compared to your dangerous occupation before the draft. Yes, Pathie, I am perfectly qualified to make those remarks…because it takes someone like me to slap you in the face and give you a reality check."_

As the voice spoke these words, Pathie shoulders began to shiver. The eyes widened into gleaming pits of grey, expressing disbelief. This person…he seems to know everything about the soldier's life. But how? All who knew him personally had died- a fact this entity already knew. It is a paradox! No one knows or cares about him now! No one! No one at all!

_"How could you possibly know so bleedin' much? Who are you!? Who!? WHO!?" _cried out Pathie. 

_"Does it elude you so much? It should be obvious now who I am. Out of all you knew, there is only one who could know you so well," _replied the voice. _"Think, soldier. You know me more than anyone. We are equals. True Equals."_

_Equals…Equals…Equals…Who is my equal?_ Pathie pondered, placing a "hand" to his brow. _Equals are hard to come by. Does he mean in physical ability? No…he'd have to be from the job or the army- I never got involved with anyone from those places. Perhaps he means mental capacity? No…that would be someone in school. They're dead. What else is there?_

_Wait…there IS something else…but the prospect of it, could it really be? No, it couldn't! That'd be crazy. Yet…there's nothing else I can think of. The only way I'll get this cleared up is if I ask. I just hope I get a good answer._

_"Are you…er…um…" _ Pathie gulped. _"…myself?"_

The voice let out a soft chuckle. _"Congrats, Pathie.__ You've hit the nail on the head. I am you. You are me. We inhabit the same body, the same mind."_

The soldier staggered from shock. _This is utter madness! I can't be conversing with myself! That's impossible!_

_"Oh, but it is," _reassured the voice_. "In times of great despair, I have always emerged from the depths of your subconscious to guide you to the best path. However, it would always be kept within your mind, since the problems that crop up can be solved without taking desperate measures. How else, do you think, could you have such vivid dreams about your family? But, analyzing the severity of this, it was time to talk face-to-face with you, so to speak._

_"You see, Pathie, your previous choices in the past, combined with hard times, has made your entire race, as well as yourself, possibly destined for destruction. You know how desperate it is: most of the scouts sent on this mission were draftees too, and almost all of them have zero experience in high-risk operations, unlike yourself. Compared to you, their chances of success are nil. If you allow your social disadvantages to get the better of you, then there won't be a planet to go back to. You would become a true loner, facing hostility wherever you go, even if you manage to escape to other galaxies. Deep down, you know that is exactly what you fear."_

Pathie covered his unseen ears, attempting with futility to drive out the voice. _"Please…please stop…I'm not a schizophrenic…I'm sane…please…" _

Ignoring Pathie's pleas, the voice continued. _"True, you have lost a great deal. But you've gotten something that most only dream about: A second chance. If you succeed in bringing back the chemical needed to halt the pandemic, you will become a hero. The world's respect to you will be unmatched by anyone else's. It would give you a chance to do what your mother had wanted: for you to form a family of your own. However, being a celebrity will only do so much of the work. Your direct interaction with society will be crucial in following through to this turning point. That is why the unexpected presence of the blonde is, in truth, a blessing in disguise."_

The ears clamped with greater intensity. _"I know all this…I've been trying…losing my sanity will not help me!"_

_"Since you're in a remote area, away from all the hostilities that caused her severe paranoia, you have gained the chance to practice communication. If you can work towards gaining her trust, you'll not only get one step closer to completing the mission, but also gain the confidence you need to become a healthy member of society again. Who knows: if the two of you find something in common, you might even become close friends. But some advice: until you truly know the girl, it would be best to keep the relationship strictly platonic. You have a professional code to live up to._

_"Do you understand me?" _ The voice concluded.

_"Yes! Now go away, PLEASE!" _ Pathie shouted.

A deep sigh echoed in the air. _"As you wish, Pathie Zimbogous, but remember: you created me. Until you patch the flowing wound you wrecked upon yourself, I may be the only companion you'll ever have. Oh, and by the way: you're not going to believe me, but the golden-haired girl is awakening. Better think quickly!"_

And with that, the voice spoke no more to the white soldier, who, needless to say, jumped up in panic. What the voice said was true: the girl's eyes began to slowly open like flower buds. The pair's lids fluttered. At the moment, they were lazily scanning around, as if she was recovering from a quick little nap. But then, to Pathie's horror, the pupils suddenly locked on him. A glow of burning hatred appeared in the pearls of blue and black. 

_"Aw, bloody hell!" _cursed Pathie, as he dove behind some cover, the following onslaught of lasers nearly piercing his battered body. __


	11. Why Pursue The Impossible? MICROCHAPTER

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

There are no words capable of portraying the severity of Bubbles' fright. None whatsoever, considering all of the circumstances: Bonded in seemingly unbreakable binds, trapped in the middle of a creepy forest under the cover of night, shivering like mad due to the lack of proper garments (nightgowns aren't usually known for their warmth), incapable of calling for help due to an immense stuffing of peanut butter in the mouth, and coming too close to death by the hands of a sadistic psycho-ruff. One could say that the poor blue-eyed blonde was trapped in her own real-life slasher flick, complete with the unhappy (and typically gory) ending.

Fortunately for her, she just happens to be equipped with Ultra-Super-Powers, and the resulting hail of laser beams sparked by her gut reaction scared off the would-be killer…for now. Bubbles still remembered the peculiar aura that rendered the attacker invulnerable to lasers. Her last window of opportunity to escape will be short-lived, and she wasn't about to miss out on it.

Bubbles tensed the muscles in her arms and legs. They softly vibrated as the awesome power of Chemical X pulsed through the blood vessels of her limbs. Her teeth clenched, her eyes squeezed shut, and extortion of her breath grew to the point where the cursed, sweet substance of peanut butter exploded outwards to the sky like an organic, ballistic missile, allowing her usually soothing voice to screech like a Scottish Banshee. All of her strength was being devoted to this one, simple task: to break the bonds so she could be free. She needed to pull, pull upwards with all of her possible might, to be free. 

_Come on! I need more! I don't want to die!_

The arms and legs shook more violently now, the build-up of power reaching the point of critical mass. Bubbles' desperation and fear were driving her over the edge. It didn't matter that her body could destabilize if she pushed herself too far. No price was too high, if it meant escaping the clutches of the Rowdyruff forever.

Out from the darkness, a crimson shine emerged. The albino Rowdyruff had arisen from his hiding spot now encompassed in a glowing suit of red. Bubbles took no notice of this, at first: she was too busy trying to escape from impending doom. 

_My god...what does that blasted girl think she's doing!? That Rowdyruff thought in his mind, __She'll__ kill herself before those binds break! I have to stop this insanity!_

*******

Pathie Zimbogous hastily chose the diplomatic approach, fearful a sudden, aggressive move would result in the survivor's death. _"Young miss, cease and desist! You are not in any sort of danger. Those binds are there for your safety!"_

The girl caught the sound of the scout's voice; her adrenaline flowed like milk. "No! Stay away! Leave me ALONE!"

The buildup of power in her body jumped tenfold, causing bolts of energy to thunder around the blonde. The scout recoiled, evading electrocution.

_Blast it! That girl is still spurting out gibberish! _

_"Listen to me!" Pathie Zimbogous cried out, __"I know you're scared of me. I know you think I'm here to kill you, but that's not true! I'm here on a mission to RESCUE you, not to mention every living being on our planet!_

_"Those binds are made of pure energy. NOTHING can break free from them. What you are doing is going to get you nowhere! And do you know what's going to happen if you continue charging up your Estrox? You're going to turn into a bleedin' raisin! You'll be nothing but an old hag inches away from oblivion! Continue this hysteria and you will DIE!"_

To Pathie's dismay, his words of plea accomplished nothing. If anything, his voice seemed to be hedging Bubbles further to her demise. He looked on helplessly as the young blonde's peach skin slowly began its transformation…a transformation into the absence of life.

_No…I can't…this…_

Pathie was out of ideas. No more reasoning could be done. None that could stop this torment. The only thing the wretched blonde saw in Pathie was the terrifying image of a monster. Ever since the first encounter, when it was the girl who had attacked first…

Pathie collapsed to one knee, with a hand covering his bowed head, as if he was worshipping the violent display before him. His countenance bore the mark of solemnity.

_I can no longer pursue an impossible dream._

He brought the MPSD close to his soft breath. 

_Strange to think that this…tool…has both saved and destroyed the remains of my life._

_"Computer," whispered Pathie, __"Release the binds."_

The survivor, surrounded in a sphere of cackling bolts, rocketed into the awakening sky, the canopy of the forest basked in a blue glow. Pathie did not look upwards as the living flare flew frantically out of his sight…perhaps forever.

_There was nothing more I could do. I had done the damage. She's free to do whatever the hell she wants now. _

Arising from the ground, Pathie hovered to the bulging roots of the forest's grandest tree, the one that overlooked his camp. He lay upon them, the tangled mess surrounding his body eagerly.

_I should never have expected any allies on such a distant planet. These self-exiled…they are horrified, scattered, lawless. They are beyond help. But it is really their fault? No…they saw the impending doom of the disease, and chose to flee while they stood the chance. _

_They chose a fate worse than death._

A weak smile crawled into the lips.

_And all this time, I was foolishly following their footsteps. It is clear now: any survivors I come across are not to be trusted. Ever. No matter how beautiful or fragile they appear. I complete my mission alone._

As the scout contemplated his next move, his ears caught a peculiar sound: someone, or some_thing, was moaning. As if in pain. _

_That sound…it's coming from above me. But it is not of my race._

Cautiously, Pathie ascended to the forest canopy, where the moans of pain grew in volume. It was up in the branches that he saw a pitiable sight.

_"The poor little thing," Pathie spoke, __"An innocent bystander to the girl's violent outburst."_

He reached towards the injured animal. The tiny creature did not yield to the scout's touch as it was supported like an infant in his arms.

_"I shall nurse you back to health. But now we must go. That girl will most likely draw unwanted attention here."_

With the animal in tow, the soldier once more made his plunge into the darkness, his sentiment for the blonde all but destroyed. 


	12. Nightmares and Freakish Encounters

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I did not expect the readers who reviewed the previous chapter to respond so strongly against the shorter-than-normal length of the previous posting. :) Rest assured, this chapter is much longer in length. As always, helpful commentary is encouraged.

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

"Help me…someone, please! HELP!"

Blossom, trapped in a pitch-black abyss, was on a desperate search. Somewhere, in the distance, the cries of her sister Bubbles screeched that of unmistakable terror. The red-headed girl didn't know what to do: she had nothing to show she was actually moving, and the direction of the sound would always shift whenever it seemed that she was closing in. 

Blossom knew she was on a wild goose chase: an obvious intent of the Rowdyruff, whose sadistic laughter occasionally echoed to her, chilling the leader's nerves to the near-point of collapse.

"The day I become your amusement is the day a snowball survives July!" Blossom yelled outwards, her open signs of frustration mixed with the drops of cold sweat.

On a whim, Blossom shot a blast of her laser beams, hoping the glowing aura from the concentrated light would somehow illuminate the never-ending void. Instead, the shafts of light merely sped away until it disappeared from her sight forever.

The Rowdyruff's voice boomed back to Blossom in retaliation. "It would seem that you lack any skills of actual worth. It is such a pity. I suppose you'll just have to listen to my descriptions."

"What are you talking about!?" Blossom cried back, petrified from the possible meanings of his words.

"Well, it's quite simple, really. Right now I have your pathetic sister bound and howling before me. Since your inability to take action has made you as slow as a sloth, you'll never have the grand opportunity of seeing me impale her through the stomach. You'll never see the blood pouring out like milk, nor will you get to see the way her eyes will widen and gleam from the shock of a mortal wound. However, I can let you hear her unheeded wails for help, followed by her climatic, last gasp from the lethal puncture. Too bad, really: your sister's death throes are best when you get the whole picture. But don't worry: you'll get a first-person account soon enough."

_No…no! That MONSTER! _

Immediately, Blossom shot through the very air around her as she broke the sound barrier with extreme speed. She had to get close enough…close enough to end this torture and banish the Rowdyruff to the depths where he came from!

"No…No…Why…Why are you doing this!? **I don't want to die!**"

The wails of her blonde sister tore Blossom's soul into irreplaceable fragments. If she was to fail now, self-forgiveness would never be possible. Life itself would never be possible. 

_Keep yelling for me, Bubbles! Don't lose hope in me! I'll save you! _Blossom pleaded in her mind.

After an agonizing moment, Blossom's determination was beginning to pay off: There before her was the snow-white Rowdyruff clad in obsidian black, posed with a deadly, piercing blade in hand. Bubbles, her eyes flowing with tears, squirmed in her bonds like a caterpillar in the zero-g void surrounding them. The strength of her cries surpassed that of a deafening klaxon. 

The Rowdyruff frowned. "Well, it looks like you're about to ruin my fun. I'll just have to start on **you** first!" 

The albino monstrosity swung his weapon back and charged the rocketing streak of pink energy. Blossom reacted with a quick shift in direction, and escaped a gruesome end with a small cut on the side of the chest. 

"You're more agile than I thought," Commented the Rowdyruff as he U-turned for another strike, "But you cannot evade my attacks forever!"

Blossom knew this fact all too well; but fortunately for her, she was not a slouch in the fighting department or in strategy. The Powerpuff leader quickly about-faced and, while still zooming away, released a massive salvo of deadly lasers in the Rowdyruff's general direction, hoping the sheer number of lethal shots would surprise and eliminate the villain. In fact, it nearly did catch him off-guard; but alas, not only did he elude the attack with ease, he even whacked one of the shots right back at Blossom!

Blossom only had a moment to gasp before her own laser attack blew a hole in her shoulder. Never had anything ruptured her body before: not like this. The resulting rush of pain pulled no punches, and sent a shocked Blossom tumbling away into the void defenseless, paralyzed, and shattered. 

"Bye-Bye, Blossom!" bellowed the victorious Rowdyruff, "Enjoy your ultimate failure! Relish in your last moments of suffering! And be certain to look for your sisters: They'll be joining you in death soon enough!"

As Blossom tumbled away helplessly, the final booms of laughter from the one villain that destroyed her life forever enraged her mind to the point of feral madness. In her thoughts she roared out obscenities never heard by other kindergarteners, cursing herself for her irreversible actions and cursing the Rowdyruff in turn. At last, she proclaimed that all who stand for peace will do anything in their power to forever exterminate the abomination that was the Rowdyruff…

And then her revival took place, bringing her back to the realm of the real world.

*****

Around the same time that Blossom arose from her nightmarish slumber, a certain female squirrel was also coming about. She casually opened up her eyes, and was greeted to the sight of the morning sun shining through the forest canopy, along with the quiet gossip of the wind and the trees and the cool touch of a big, smooth rock below.  Concern occupied the little mammal's mind, for the scene of trees and bushes surrounding the area had not the marginal scent of familiarity.

_Jeez, this is pretty bad, _the squirrel thought, as she stretched some muscles and scanned the premises further. _No…make that "really, really bad." How in the name of Tamiasciurus did I end up HERE?_

Bullet attempted to get on her feet, but as soon as she rose from the ground a pounding headache pushed her back down again, confining her to lie upon her stomach once more.

_Oy__…where did THAT come from? Did something happen to me last night? Hmmm…_

At that point she managed to regain some memory: Touching the mysterious shell had surged an unknown but rattling pain through her tiny frame, blowing her away into some part of the grand tree that was nearby. She had phased in and out of consciousness, clinging on to her life, until…****

_I can't remember that part. Sheesh, I must've been pretty banged up. But something **must have healed me. I know that for certain. **_

Bullet's second try at getting up proved to be more successful; however, the pain in her head did not completely subside. It did not matter to her, though: she needed to find someone- friendly, of course- who could direct her back to known territory. If that peculiar human child proved to be hostile, the other animals would need her special talents soon, if not immediately.

Sniffing the air, Bullet caught wind of a fellow mammal's scent…or, at least that's what she thought it was. The unique traits of this particular essence proved difficult to identify. 

_This might be the scent of a human, _Bullet thought. _And that human might be a hunter. I'll have to be careful until I get a sight of it. And to do that, I'll have to go up…quietly._

This task proved to be easy for the squirrel, for her superpowers allowed her to float to the upper reaches without sound, while a tree trunk provided cover from any watchful pair of eyes. Now in the ideal lookout position, she peered down to the roots of the sylvan landscape, searching for the mysterious entity in the premises. 

_Hunters…they usually wear the color of dawn, dusk, and blood…have to spot them first, before they spot you…There!_

Having spotted a rustling section of bushes, Bullet quickly magnetized her vision until the intricate vines within the leaves appeared as clear as water. Even so, the details of the creature were hard to make out: if anything, it seemed nothing more than a distortion of the air itself. 

_What is that THING? _Bullet pondered, her curiosity piqued.

The bizarre form went on the move again, leisurely approaching the very rock where Bullet had found herself moments before. The squirrel instantly pressed herself down, hugging the branch she stood on: She was not one to assume trust for an unknown species and did her best to be undetected. She peeked over the side of the branch as the creature finally halted in front of her former resting place. 

_That scent…it's stronger now. THAT is what's producing it? No way! That can't even BE a creature!_

The pain in Bullet's head now seemed absolutely pathetic compared to the feeling of awe and fear flowing through her body. Nothing could have torn her eyes away from the extraordinary sight of this unnatural presence. And so she witnessed every second of the magical scene that followed:

The abstract mass of distorted air collapsed onto the earth like an abandoned piece of cloth, revealing none other than the albino human child!

_Holy freakin' **CRAP!**_

At once, the black-clad child threw his arms up in the air. _"Oh, this is real peachy! I rescue this creature from imminent death, heal its wounds, and what does it do? It runs away! Well, with the way things are going, what else should I expect? I'm bleedin' cursed!"_

Upon hearing the child's ranting, Bullet's shock jumped a hundredfold.

_I…I can understand him!?_

The poor, confused, flabbergasted squirrel lost all of her senses. The world seemed to spin around like a motor top as she toppled over the edge and plummeted to the earth below.

Pathie Zimbogous spun upon hearing the sudden _thud nearby._

_"What in blazes was that?" _he asked himself, _"Wait a minute- That could be the creature!"_

He hurried towards the source of the unexpected crash upon soil. His hunch proved correct: There was the four-legged animal with the large front teeth and the brown, bushy tail, standing on its head in a bizarre fashion along with a glaze in the eyes.

_"Ah, so you didn't run away!" _Pathie exclaimed happily, _"You little bugger. Nice to see I did something right for a…hello?"_

The scout noticed right away that something was not right with the creature. He kneeled down to get a closer look.

_"Oh, great…I snapped its mind!" _Pathie exclaimed, picking up a limp vegetable of an animal. _"I knew it was too good to be true…waking up with a completely different language would be too much for a basic life form, I guess."_

He stared into its eyes once more. _"What am I going to do with you now?"_

That question was quickly answered when the creature snapped back to life, screeched, and promptly pounced upon Pathie's face.

_"AGGHMPH-MPHHNH-MAAUGH!"__  The scout wailed painfully, as he frantically tossed himself to and fro like an ape gone bananas while trying to rip off the hysterical psycho-mammal from his delicate countenance. When that proved unsuccessful, Pathie resorted to punching the creature; but it jumped out of harm's way moments before the first blow made impact, thereby dooming the scout's left eye to unspeakable, horrible pain._

Pathie grabbed his throbbing eye and cursed: _"Bloody hell! What in blazes did you do that for!?"_

_"Get away from me!" _The creature started to shriek, but no sooner did it speak that than it froze like a bag of imported peas.

"_My…What…you…Why am I not cheeping?!"_ The animal shouted.

_"Don't you see?"_ Pathie replied, still holding his now-blackened eye, _"You can speak in my language now. I rewired your brain so we could communicate! Now calm down, I'm not here to hurt-."_

_"I don't want to speak your language! I want to CHEEP, dammit!" _ The panicked animal cried, before it charged Pathie and, unfortunately, grabbed on to his face like a barnacle once more.

_Fudge! _Pathie thought, as the eerie feeling of déjà vu mixed with the torturous feeling of claws digging into his facial flesh. This time, Pathie opted to crush the assailant upon the heavy bark of a nearby tree; but the creature was yet again one step ahead, and the foolishness of the scout's decision bared itself when he was rewarded a pulsating concussion for his efforts. The following string of obscenities would've made the devil blush.

_"For the love of god, can't you see I'm trying to talk to you!?" _Pathie snapped.

_"You're trying to hurt me!" _The four-legged creature rebutted, hovering over the injured soldier.

_"I'm defending myself, you dolt! YOU'RE the one who's clamping on to me like a parasitic facehugger!"_

_"But…but…"_

_"And just so you know, I'm the one who saved your life last night! So perhaps you should consider giving me a bleedin' benefit of a doubt!"_

_"How do I know you're telling the truth? You could be tricking me like predators do!"_

_"If I wanted to kill you, creature, I would've already done so when you were completely defenseless in that tree!"_

The animal could not produce a reply.

_"I can understand you're frightened of me: Everyone here has treated me like the worst freak of nature to ever exist," _The scout continued, _"But if you allow me to explain my intents, then you will see that I am no enemy of yours."_

The animal's panic finally diminished in the face of rational thinking. It floated back down to the earth and looked up towards the battered expression of the scout.

_"Well…er…I guess I should apologize." _The creature said.

_"No need. Your rationality is apology enough,"_ Pathie responded. _"My name is Pathie Zimbogous. I'm a male malukian. And yourself?"_

_"Um…my name's Bullet. I'm a girl squirrel."_

_"Bullet," _Pathie reiterated. _"Peculiar name.__ Doesn't sound very feminine, though, but that's probably just me."_

_"Heh, and yours isn't 'peculiar'? 'Pathie Zimbogous' sounds real zany!" _Bullet commented. __

_"I think it suits me well," _Pathie replied, chuckling. _"Remove the 'I' and 'E' and replace it with an 'O' and 'S', and the resulting word would sum up my whole life pretty well."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Nevermind."_Pathie spoke, disappointed that the meaning was lost on the little squirrel. _"Now, before I start, we need to find a comfortable spot. This explanation of mine is going to take awhile. A **long** while."_

_"Er…how about that rock I was on?" _Bullet suggested, pointing towards it.

Pathie smiled. _"I suppose that's as good a place as any."_


	13. A Close Call, Plus an Ironic Revelation

CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

In the constant turmoil of everyday life, there comes a time when one must confront the unthinkable. Just what the unthinkable is depends on the person. For a girl on the dating scene, it could be waking up to a pimple the size of a chick pea. For businessmen, it could be losing their fortunes to bankruptcy (as well as being caught trying to scavenge whatever scrap piles of moolah they can get their rotten hands on.) But these examples do not hold justice to the one "unthinkable" event that, although occurring everyday, is never conceivable by the average person: The permanent loss of family.

Blossom, the red-headed Powerpuff girl, has been struggling with this fact ever since she awoke from her cruel nightmare. She did not know if she had anyone left. The professor? A lifeless vegetable on a hospital bed. Buttercup? Charged into the midnight abyss and hasn't returned since. And Bubbles? No…she couldn't think about Bubbles. The mere thought of the atrocious Rowdyruff taking her life away would reduce Blossom to a sobbing, shivering mass of flesh.

Still dressed in her cotton nightgown, the girl had toured her house one last time, observing the remains of last night's incident. Gaping holes, blood stains, wood splinters…It would take a lifetime of labor to repair it all. Not that she was going to need the house in the near-future: She had other plans.

Blossom made her way back to the lab, quietly searching the area for a particular item she needed. Fortunately, most of the objects in that room seemed untouched (save for the simulator, of course), so it took little time for the redhead to find the needed material:

There, sitting inconspicuously upon the table, was a beaker of Antidote X.

Although the substance appeared similar to that of lemonade, Blossom knew that drinking it would yield a nasty surprise: It would nullify all the power of the chemical X in her body, reducing her to the state of an ordinary, harmless little girl.

An ordinary, harmless, _mortal little girl.  _

Of course, she wasn't going to do _that quite yet: Despite all that has been lost, there was still one last course of action to fulfill before traversing to the "other side" in peace._

_It's a simple plan, _thought Blossom, _One: Find and confront the Rowdyruff. Two: Provoke him into attacking first. Three: Use the opportunity to inject this chemical into him. And four: Make him pay._

_And as for the second phase…I'll have to write a note explaining myself. I know what they would say: "Why not start anew? Why not grow up with a new family?" They won't understand._

So enveloped was Blossom in her desired course of action that the calling of her name almost went unheard.

_What? Someone's calling for me?_ She suddenly perked up. _It could be Buttercup!_

At once she zoomed out of the lab and into the open, hoping she'd be greeted by a familiar face with the emerald eyes and the brunette hair…

…and at once sank back down to depression again.

"Oh…Hi, Robin."

Robin, a young, long-haired, blue-eyed casual kindergartener, happened to be the Puffs' playmate from next door. A reasonable appearance in casual attire suggested she had been up for some time. The expression of her face asked the obvious question. 

Blossom quickly spun her yarn, using the same thread spun in the hospital: "It's not as bad as it looks. Honest! The professor had a little accident with one of his inventions and my sisters and I took him to the hospital. He should be fine. That's why I look a bit scruffy today."

The neighbor did not respond: Instead, her blue eyes continued to gaze into Blossom's psyche.

_Why isn't she saying anything? _Blossom asked herself, as beads of sweat rolled down the side of her head. _Do I look THAT terrible? Maybe she's on to me. No…how could she? There's no way she'd know. She'd be asleep. Unless…_

_What if she DID see? What if she told someone? It could be on the news already! The city could be in a panic right now! _

_But…She might have seen it, but not have told anyone. Yet. That means I'll have to be sure she stays quiet. But how? …No! What am I thinking? Not like that!_

_But she might not understand why it has to be kept secret. She might not understand how vulnerable I'd be. And then she'd leave me with no choice…No! I'm not going to throw away everything I've lived for! But what else can I do!?_

The eyes darted back and forth and the veins appeared on the forehead as the immense stress began to devour Blossom's mind. The color slowly drained away from her body as what was once a proud, confident, unstoppable young superhero began to morph into an isolated, pathetic shell. Then, at that moment in time, everything froze when the following words of innocence flowed from Robin's lips:

"Why aren't you with your sisters?"

 Blossom's heart, consumed in revenge and finality, experienced an epiphany of hope, and instantly melted away the brooding intentions, leaving behind the sharp, energetic thumps of unrivaled ecstasy.

 "W_hat!?"_

"They came over a few hours ago. Why aren't you-"

Robin did not have the chance to finish that statement, for Blossom burst into the house next door, not caring that the front door was completely torn from its hinges. There was no stopping her: the ounce of hope usurped from her neighbor's innocent statement was like a steroid flowing through the veins. She flew through the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, up the stairs, into the bathrooms, _everywhere_, leaving behind a trail of pink energy and wanton destruction.

Until…

Blossom stopped, and saw the subliminal sight: Two scruffy children, in torn nightgowns, sleeping like the cherubs of the heavenly sky while holding one another in a sisterly embrace.

She collapsed upon her knees and finally let loose the tears of unbridled joy.

*******

_"So much…information…my head hurts!"_

_"For cryin' out loud: it is NOT that complex."_

_"You try growing up on pure survival and see how much YOU understand!"_

Pathie Zimbogous, having just made a potential ally, has been gritting his teeth for the past hour, along with the occasional pulling of the grayish hair rooted in his noggin. The said companion, Bullet, had no way of easily understanding the scout's predicament. In retrospect, it is to be expected: How often does one come across a forest creature with a highly advanced knowledge of science and politics, never mind of an extra-terrestrial world? It was as if a preschooler received a book of Algebra and had expectations to calculate the coordinates of a parabola! 

_"Ok, let's go over it again, for the fifth bleedin' time,"_ Pathie spoke, his irritation barely hidden, _"Where do I come from?"_

_"From a planet?"___

_"Yes, but which one?"_

_"Er…not this one?"_

_"Right!__ And what's happening on my planet now?"_

_"Um…your 'malooky' people are sick?"_

Pathie slapped his snow-white forehead. _"Bullet, the name is 'Malukian', not Malooky!"_

_"Well, excuse ME! I've only been speaking this mumbo-jumbo since I woke up! Go easy on me!"_

_"Oy vey…Ok, Bullet: Do you know HOW my people are sick?"_

_"Give me a moment…um…the sickness eats malukians' 'Estrox' away, leaving them as weak as a twig."_

_"Right…and do you know why Estrox is important?"_

_"It gives Malukians their special powers and resistance from disease?"_

_"Correct! Now we're getting somewhere. So you understand why I'm here, then?"_

Bullet's furry expression morphed like an amoeba in every which way, until it rested into a look of embarrassment.

Pathie held his head in shame. _"Ugh. Bullet, I'm here so that I can get some Estrox to cure my people at home before we all become a statistic in the history books!"_

_"Alright, already!__ I get it! I get it!" _Bullet said repeatedly.

_"Now, let's go over how you can speak my language," _the albino scout stated.

The squirrel was a bit slow to reply. _"Um…that floppy thingie, it put some weird dots in my ears and throat, right? And they do something called 'converting?'"_

_"Correct! See, I told you it wasn't that complex," _Pathie said reassuringly.

_"But Pathie, there's still some things that make no sense!"_

_"Oh? Such as?"_

_"Why do you want MY help? I'm just a forest creature. Surely you'd find someone more helpful than me!"_

Pathie frowned. _"Believe me, Bullet, for the first few minutes I've been on this rock-"_

_"You mean the rock over there?" _Bullet questioned.

_"I was referring to the planet, Bullet."_

_"The planet's one humongous rock?"___

Pathie grumbled. _"Please, let me finish. Yesterday, I was certain that I could accomplish my mission without assistance. But just minutes after I got off my mode of transportation, I soon came to realize that this could be the most hostile of planets in existence, not because of the indigenous life, but because of the presence of…survivors." _The last word was spoken with a slight sense of anger.

_"Survivors?"__ Bullet questioned with curiousity._

_"So far, I've only seen one, but I'm sure there will be others. They're malukians like myself, except they decided to flee from home to escape the sickness. They're all insane, Bullet: driven mad by the lost of their civilization, and terrified of the thought of having to hide from ignorant savages for all time. I'm sure you've seen them hiding in your forest."_

Bullet pondered over this fact. Had she seen other malukians lately? Oh, wait…yes, she has…

_"You're telling me that Bubbles is actually a looney alien!?" _The super squirrel exclaimed.

Pathie jumped from the sudden outburst. _"Now, just hang on a minute! Who in blazes is 'Bubbles?'"_

Poor bullet, once again overwhelmed with shock, promptly fainted before the albino scout with spirals in her eyes. Pathie, rolling his own eyes at the squirrel's sensitivity, proceeded to shake the forest creature out of her stupor.

_"Snap out of it, Bullet! What's all this about? Who are you talking about'?"_

Bullet, startled out of her coma, took in a few deep breaths before she muttered: _"The Powerpuff girls."_

The first thing that ran through Pathie's mind was how amazingly ridiculous that name sounded.

_"The Powerpuff girls?"_He spoke again, unable to believe someone would adapt such a silly name for themselves.

_"Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup," _Bullet continued, _"They're guardians of the human habitat. They go to a child's school. They live with a man who wears white. And except for the skin and hair, they look just like YOU!"_

The arms of Pathie Zimbogous fell down to his sides, the jaw hanging low as if immobilized by an aesthetic. The immense panic of the blonde girl, the streaks of light that attacked him, the native creature he incapacitated that wore cloths of bright white…

_"They weren't insane, after all."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Bullet, those three girls aren't human children. They are adult malukians just like me. They have somehow formed themselves a façade, pretending to be young members of the indigenous species. The man in white is who provides them shelter. Their position as 'defenders,' as you put it, is probably what gains them acceptance from this planet's civilization in exchange for their unique appearance._

_ "When I crash-landed in the human city, the whole populace saw me as a threat. Had those girls not acted against me, their safety here would've been compromised._ _That means these girls have already given up on their home. We will get no support from them."_

Bullet wasn't going to buy that. _"C'mon, Pathie!__ I know these girls personally. They're really nice folks!"_

_"They've turned their back on their own race, Bullet. If I approach them, they would only use me to cement their cozy lifestyle, most likely by killing me."_

Bullet did not know what to say.

_"Bullet, you are the only one who can help me now. I know this because of the Estrox that flows through you. You're the only one who can tell me where you got it."_

At this thought, Bullet cringed. _"Um, Pathie?__ I don't mean to ruin your day, but…I got my powers from the Powerpuffs."_

_"What!?"___

_"Well, you see, I was hurt real bad one day, but then Bubbles had taken me into their house. When I woke up, I had superpowers!"_

Pathie's muscles tensed greatly. _"So, the only way to get the Estrox is by going into the Lion's den…that's just terrific! Just plain effin' TERRIFIC!"_

Pathie punched a nearby tree in a fit of rage, violently blowing out a crude hole through the trunk. Bullet recoiled in fright.

_"Pathie, go easy! It's not that bad! Can't you just fly in and out before anyone can react?  Humans are slow, you know."_

_"Humans, Yes. Malukians, definitely not," _the scout snapped, pulling out his stump from the mortal wound inflicted onto the tree. _"Those damned survivors would hunt me down easily, especially since it's three against one. And I don't want you to get needlessly hurt," _Pathie quickly added, before Bullet could point out that the numbers were three against two.

_"The only option left for us would be stealth,"_ He concluded.

_"Don't you have that cloak thingy for that?" _Bullet questioned.

_"It's not perfect. It does its job only if I'm completely still. With the amount of ground we have to travel, someone's bound to raise the alarm."_

_"Then what can we do?"_

Pathie stared solemnly into Bullet's eyes. _"We will need a disguise…"_


	14. Plans and Speculations Ad Infinitum

**Chapter Fourteen**

Robin Snyder, who ran to her home as soon as she saw Blossom barge into it like a wrecking ball, gasped like an emphysema patient upon entry. The typically spotless and organized abode had been reduced to the ultimate pigsty. Chaotic jumbles of furniture, appliances, and Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets portrayed the cataclysmic results of a howling tornado- or, to be more accurate, the destructive wake of an apparently-bonkers Powerpuff.

"Oh no, no, no, no!" Robin said dramatically, as the color drained from her face. "Why this? Why _now?_ Blossom wouldn't act like this without some good reason!"

Navigating her way through the mess towards her bedroom upstairs, Robin could only focus on one thing: the inevitable hour of doom that would undoubtedly occur thanks to the inconsideration of her super-powered friend. The pieces were already in place: Her merciful parents are away on vacation, pursuing their primal urges (and quite possibly producing another love child); In place of them is a ruthless grandmother-in-law possessing the reincarnated spirit of a 7th circle Hellspawn.  Standard punishment for littering was 10 spankings per debris, and the force of those spanks made it near-impossible to rest one's heiney. It did not require a mathematics degree to calculate the resulting pain for an indoor hurricane.

Fortunately, the evil hag did possess a weakness: Her hearing impairment is so severe she would have no trouble sleeping through a stampede of rabid elephants. As such, she is still resting like a baby, as far as Robin could tell. But the lady will wake up sooner or later, most likely eliciting a shrill scream upon seeing the impossible mess. Robin's only hope for salvation relied on obliterating the catastrophic eyesore in record time. This, of course, takes a miracle; lucky for her, three such miracle workers happened to be present. It was only a matter of asking.

However, as Robin approached the closed, wooden door leading to her quarters, her desperation gradually gave way to curiosity when her ears caught the sound of a conversation. Although the words were too soft to be understood, their general tone proved most interesting: solemn, moody, and above all else, angry.

As it is commonly known, children of kindergarten age are easily attracted by the lure of curiosity. A lack of knowledge for risk and manners makes this lure all the more tantalizing. As such, Robin couldn't help herself when she crept up to her bedroom door for the purpose of eavesdropping on the visitors' conversation:

"Hang on a minute, Bubbles: You're telling me that the Rowdyruff took out the professor, you fainted, then you woke up bounded in a forest, and you escaped, and the **Rowdyruff didn't pursue you!?**" Blossom's voice exclaimed.

_Rowdyruff?__ What's a Rowdyruff? Robin pondered._

"Didn't I just say all that, dum-dum head?" responded the voice of Bubbles.

"But…that makes **no **sense!"

"Who cares if it makes sense?" said Buttercup's voice. "That good-for-nothing freak's gotta have a few screws loose, right? He's just a killing machine, and we know it!"

"Yeah!" Bubbles agreed.

"Listen, you two. Don't you remember all that blood that was spilled?" Blossom asked.

"Blood!? Ack, I can't stand the sight of it!"

_Me neither._

"Bubbles, now's not the time to spaz out! Listen…Buttercup, when you left to look for Bubbles, I ran a test to see whose blood stained the house. The tests all pointed to you, Bubbles; but according to what you've told me, you weren't even in the lab last night! That, and you don't have a single scratch on you! Don't you two realize what all that shows?"

"Um…what?"

"That blood belongs to the ROWDYRUFF!" 

A _pffh_ spurted out of Buttercup's mouth. "Yeah, right. Blossom, there's no way that blood's from the Rowdyruff. The only way that would've happened was if the professor put the danger-room on some sky-high hardness. And we both know the professor doesn't do revenge!"

"Buttercup…I ran the test without margin for error…not any of us, not even the professor, could've matched up. It HAS to belong to the grey-eyed puff."

"Are you sure of that? Didn't you have trouble staying awake, leader girl? You could've done something wrong!"

"I didn't do it wrong!"

"You can't prove it!"

Robin could hear the thumping of her own tiny heart as a tense silence enveloped the room.

_So, what Blossom said to me wasn't true…but why would she lie to me about all this?_ Robin wondered. 

Finally, Blossom responded. "You're right, Buttercup. There's no way I can prove it. That's because I smashed the testing machine in a fit of rage."

"Ha! See, I was right!"  
"But-"

"But nothing! We KNOW he tried to take out Bubbles before. We KNOW he took out the professor. And we KNOW that blood's gotta belong to the professor, since he was the only other guy in the lab! What else do we need to know this guy's evil? I say we make like a search party and hunt down that scumbag!"

"Yeah!" Bubbles agreed once more.

_That's what I'd do…I guess._

"Wait! Aren't you two forgetting something?!" Blossom snapped, "If that albino Rowdyruff wanted to 'take out' Bubbles, then it already would've happened! And he certainly wouldn't have just let her go just like that."

"Well…um…maybe he got caught off guard or something!" Buttercup retorted.

"Baloney. That Rowdyruff wants SOMETHING from us, but it obviously isn't our lives. Question is, what could it be?"

"Maybe he's a vampire," the brunette speculated.

"A what?" Bubbles questioned.

"A vampire. You know, those guys who suck blood out of people's throats."

A quick series of pats could be heard, most likely Bubbles frantically checking her jugular.

"Get real, Buttercup." Blossom said, "But whatever it is, it has to be something only we possess."

Another moment of silence.

But then, Buttercup's light bulb snapped on with the luminescence of a powerful star. "Hey…I know! That guy must be after our Chemical X!" 

"Hmm, you could be right," Blossom said, not entirely agreeing with that statement, "But if that's the case, it's certainly not because he's a weakling."

"No, no, no…don't you remember Dick Hardly?"

Bubbles cringed upon hearing the abominable name. "That liar…"

"You mean that 'friend' of the professor's who made freakish copies of us for making money?" Blossom asked, curious as to where Buttercup was going with this.

"Yeah, that's the one," Buttercup confirmed, "Well, try this on for size: What if that slimeball had worked on Rowdyruffs as well as Powerpuffs?"

Blossom's super-analytical mind suddenly shifted gears. "Yeah, you could be right! And that Rowdyruff who kidnapped Bubbles must've been one of his failures-"

"No! That's not it! Don't you see? That snow-white freak was made by Dick Hardly to get his revenge for us ruining his business!"

Blossom raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Buttercup, that's REALLY far-fetched. We all saw the factory burn down, WITH Dick Hardly in it. There's no way he's plotting anything against us now."

At this point, Bubbles quietly got on the soap box. "But Blossom…what if he was made BEFORE the factory burned down?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, Bubbles!" Buttercup jumped in, "This guy was made in case we'd get in the way but instead of destroying us the typical way he'd suck out the Chemical X from our bodies so Dick could save money in making his 'puffs but he couldn't be finished because Dick was too busy pumping chemical x in those moneymakers but when the factory started to burn down he put a tiny bit of it into this guy so he could take us out with him but there wasn't enough at first which is why he's as white as a snowball because when the stuff was sucked outta us we turned white so the freak just escaped and waited 'til he made enough chemical x in his body to carry out his master's plan!"

Thankfully, Buttercup chose that moment to breathe and averted her likely chance to faint.

_Whoa…what the heck did she just say?_

Blossom scoffed. "Oh please…that's the silliest thing I've ever heard! Do you really think that Rowdyruff's an abandoned pawn in Dick's get-rich-quick scheme? He's more likely to be an alien from outer space!"

Buttercup scowled. "Ok, then, YOU come up with something better, Miss smarty-pants! Not that you could, since you're too STUCK-UP to consider anything!"

"What!?" Blossom shouted, as steam blew out of her head.

"You heard me, you snobby know-it-all!"

"Take that back!"

"Make me!"

"Do it, or else I'll-"

Just when the petty quarrel between the girls was boiling to the breaking point, a blood-curdling scream resembling that of a raspy donkey echoed throughout the house. Every child in the house immediately dove for a hiding place, but none did as desperately as Robin when she crashed through the bedroom door and jumped into the nearest closet. 

The donkey hollered some dismal words: "ROBIN SNYDER, BY THE TIME I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU'LL REGRET THE VERY DAY YOU WERE BORN!"

Accompanying Robin in her hiding spot just so happened to be the trio she was spying on earlier. Under normal circumstances, the superheroes probably would've expressed suspicion due to the uncanny timing of the screech and Robin's sudden entrance. However, all four young kindergarteners wished to avoid the wrath of the devil spawn, and thus introductions and explanations were skipped in favor of hatching an escape plan.

"So…uh…this closet wouldn't by any chance have a back door, would it, Robin?" Buttercup asked, right after a pinch of nervous laughter escaped from her lips.

"Well…no." Robin stated succinctly.

"We're trapped!" The blue-eyed blonde proclaimed, obviously dismayed. "Why does everything bad happen to ME? It's not fair! Not fair!"

"Shh! Quiet!" The puff's leader snapped. "Do you want to give us away?"

_Knock Knock Knock!_

"Fudge!" Robin cursed, "My In-law's at the bedroom door! We're doomed!"

Clearly, the evil hag was on the war path, for the soft knocks quickly grew into deafening bangs until the door cried "uncle" and collapsed onto the pink carpeting.

"What's wrong with you people?" Buttercup remarked, "Can't we just make our own exit?"

"Yeah, but this is Robin's house! It was us that got her into trouble in the first place!" Blossom pointed out.

"Us? We didn't fly in like a tornado, YOU did!"

"Oh, right…But that's not important. We can't blast out of here, and that's that!"

"No, no, that's ok!" Robin cut in, "I won't mind at all!" 

"Huh?"

"My In-law is the **worst** babysitter! EVER! I'll do anything to get away from her!"

"Are you sure you won't mind having a hole in the side of your house?"

"Yes! Now GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Robin's panicked words certainly provided the momentum to get a move on, especially when the grandmother-in-law from hell made her sudden entrance with a wooden paddle in her grasp. However, upon seeing the hag reaching towards them with a decaying, bony hand, the four children lost their senses and let out a piercing, blood-curdling scream. This, surprisingly, turned out to be a wise course of action, for the old lady, shocked by the sudden, terrified chorus, stumbled back and fell over like a stone as her frail body underwent cardiac arrest.

For a moment, the children just stared. Stared and stared and stared and stared. But soon enough, poor Robin exploded in an even more overbearing panic.

"Ahh! You killed her!" she exclaimed.

"We killed her!?" Buttercup said, "Look at her! She's like a zombie, for crying out loud!"

"Would you two shut UP!" Blossom shouted. "We've got to take the old lady to the hospital. She's dying!"

"Uh-uh. No way I'm touching a corpse!" Buttercup retorted.

"But she's still moving a tiny bit-" Bubbles began to say, but was quickly silenced by Buttercup's glare.

"Buttercup, Bubbles…this is not a time to be pig-headed! We've barged in here and got her into a load of trouble, so the least we can do is clean up the mess we made! Now you two take Robin's grandmother to the hospital, OR ELSE!"

"How come you're not coming?" Buttercup said angrily.

"Someone's got to clean up Robin's house. Now go! We'll regroup here later to solve our crisis."

"Cry-sis?"

"You know what I'm talking about! Go already! And don't make a hole in Robin's roof!"

Blossom's sisters, grumbling, hastily made their exit with the leathery mass of flesh in tow. Once they were gone, the redhead focused her attention on the other long-haired kindergartener, who understandably appeared uneasy.

"What you heard in this house must never be spoken to anyone else. Understand?"

Robin could only nod.

"Good."

And with that, the two set out to undo the severe mess of the household.

********

Back in the remote woodland forests, the squirrel and the extra-terrestrial's creation of the disguise proved to be more difficult than expected. The MPSD's virtual body-masking program, utilizing its particle tech to simulate the peculiars of anatomy, skin, et cetera, had apparently drunken a few shots of whiskey before being integrated into the disc. The setup was simple enough: ten fingers, ten toes, two flat nipples, blonde hair, and –of course- a nose and ears. The end result, however, was at the same time horrifying, humiliating, and downright hilarious. 

On the first time, Pathie Zimbogous' "costume" produced the following traits: a cotton-candy epidermis, ten fingers and toes for EACH appendage, a yellow goatee, a nose as long as Pinocchio's, a funkadelic afro, and a jumbly pair of garbanzas as large as Mount Everest. Bullet responded to this freak show by rolling back and forth on the ground, her furry sides splitting with laughter. Pathie, however, screamed like a ninny.

_"Aaagh!__ This wasn't what I wanted, computer! Undo, undo, undo!" _Pathie sputtered.

Fortunately, that command hadn't been corrupted, and the soldier immediately regained his form when the particles peeled off his frame like a potato skin, returning to their reserved storage in the disc.

Pathie looked over to the guffawing squirrel. _"Well, I'm glad YOU find it amusing," he said sarcastically, _"But that could've been permanent!"__

_"Oh, I'm sorry, Pathie, it's just…Bwa-ha-ha-ha! You should've seen the look on your face! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!"_

The scout grumbled. _"Well, in any case, it's going to take forever to get a full costume right, with all the programming scrambled like that. We have no choice but to choose something more basic."_

_"Why not just cover everything with clothes?"_ Bullet suggested, still recovering from her laughing, _"That's what the humans would do."_

_"No. I'd look too suspicious during the day. That would only work when the population is preparing for slumber, and I don't have the time to wait for the cover of the night…unless…"_

_"Unless what?"_

_"…Unless they have a network not normally used by the populace."_

Bullet's mind drew a blank. _"Er…what's a network?"_

Pathie sighed. _"A network._ It is a system of transferring something from one place to another amongst multiple users."__

_"Huh?"_

The scout slapped his forehead. _"Just answer me this, Bullet: do the humans have underground tunnels they normally don't use for traveling from location to location?"_

_"Yeah.__ There's human-sized tunnels under the city they use to move their pee and poop."_

_"You're kidding," _Pathie commented, not sounding the least bit surprised.

It didn't take long for Bullet to realize what the scout had in mind. At once she began to gag. _"Oh, no, you don't mean- Oh, this is going to STINK!"_

_"You put it so well!" _Pathie said, now having his turn to laugh.

********

_Here I am. Thriving. Able to see the sun once more. _

_Yet, for once I wish I had never awoken._

_That is because I have awoken to a time of tragedy and chaos._

_Somewhere out there, a terrible evil thrives. An evil more powerful than ever encountered by man. An evil that has already conquered the defenders._

_My defenders.___

_…_

_He is capable of destruction greater than man's most terrible weaponry. He has no remorse. No pity. He is as cold as the winter night and as ruthless as the lion. _

_And the world doesn't even know he exists._

_But they will soon know, for he will eventually strike. He will flatten whole cities and will slaughter all those who stand against him. For he is unstoppable. He will cover this world like a lethal disease and bring ruin for every man, woman and child who survives his wrath._

_But I happen to know his weakness. I know what fuels his power. And only I have the capability to destroy it. _

_But I will have to wait for the right moment. When he is over-confident and relaxed, I shall strike from the shadows. I will eliminate this evil and bring peace back to this world once more._

_All I need to do is to go back home and prepare._

_…_

_Wait…what is that in the distance?_

_They look like…colors…pastel colors…blue…green…_

_Oh my god…_

_They're ALIVE!_


	15. The Happy Reunion

**Author's Note: **Is this the story that continues to thrive, or the story that refuses to die? Heck, I don't know, but I do know this: the waiting period for this chapter was longer than intended. I'll save you the various excuses I could entertain you with. :) 

Those of you expecting more of Pathie and Bullet (that lovable duo :laughs:) may be a little disappointed with their conspicuous absence this time around. However, it has to be kept in mind that since both sides of the conflict are working for noble causes, both sides of the story deserve a more in-depth look at their actions. If this still disappoints you, I can assure you the next chapter's view will focus on the other side of the coin. Feel free to comment.

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"Hello, fellow Townsvillers. I'm Bolf Wiltzer, reporting for the morning news hour:

"Residents of the Pokey Oaks suburbia were nearly rocked out of their beds last night when an unexpected explosion blew a hole in the house of the Powerpuff girls. Apparently, resident genius Professor Utonium was analyzing a few samples for his latest research project when an accidental mixtures of chemicals set off a nasty reaction. He was swiftly transported to the hospital by the Powerpuff Girls, and was lucky enough to regain consciousness this morning.

"Local pundits in the city have voiced their concern for the recent chain of events. They suspect that the explosion occurred not because of an experiment but because of the albino, black-clad Rowdyruff that they believe may not have been disposed of. Professor Utonium, however, set the record straight with these words: 'If the former Rowdyruff was the cause of that explosion, then a lot more of those pyrotechnics would've occurred last night, especially in the city.' Well said, professor.

"The scientist has since left the hospital bed, returning home to once again explore the unknowns of modern science- once the house has been repaired, of course, which is an easy task when you have three super powered children in the family.

"Coming up after the break: the recent period of near-total supervillian absence has been a boon for us all; but astrologers say this is the calm before the storm! Listen to how the experts in horoscopes have predicted the coming of the apocalypse- yet again!"

**********

Never before has Robin Snyder felt so drained (a feeling worthy of note when one is an energetic six-year-old.) Why? Because of two major things:

A. She came inches within being mercilessly spanked to death by an old, decaying hag.

B. She spent nearly ten minutes diving like Max Payne to avoid countless streaks of pink energy, for a supercharged Blossom cleansed the household of filth and disorder at record speed. Sure, the red-headed superhero was merely exerting stress, but poor Robin did not have a death wish.

Now the two girls are resting on the living room couch, killing time with the television as they waited for the blonde and brunette to return.

"Sigh…There's never much on in the morning," Blossom commented, flipping the channels with the remote.

"Not even on Saturdays?" Robin asked.

"Especially Saturdays," Blossom answered.

_Flip…flip-flip…flip-flip-flippety-flippo-flip…_

"Agh! I give up!" the super powered girl exclaimed, tossing the remote to the side.

"Maybe we can watch a movie?" Robin suggested.

"I guess we can do that," Blossom answered.

Robin promptly hopped off the couch. She walked leisurely towards the collection of videotapes housed below the television.

"Gee, there sure are a lot of tapes here," Robin commented, trying unsuccessfully to suppress the growing sense of anxiety in her home.

"I'm sure you'll find something good," Blossom said.

One by one the tapes were examined. The procedure, due to Robin's basic reading level and indecisiveness, proved to be excruciatingly slow. Blossom, attempting to keep herself occupied, watched a nearby analog clock.

_What's taking them so long?_

Tick-tock-tick-tock…

_It's not like them to be slow._

Tick, tock, tick, tock…

_What if they ran into trouble?_

Tick…tock….tick…tock…

_They could be fighting._

Tick…tock…

_They could be losing._

Tick…

_They could be dying!_

"Found one!"

Blossom nearly leapt out of the couch: so focused she was in her thoughts that her friend's mild exclamation boomed like cymbals.

"Blossom, are you ok? You're acting weird again," Robin spoke, approaching the redhead with sincere concern.

"I'm ok," Blossom answered weakly, even though her heart still pumped vigorously.

"Oh, ok then," Robin said, still concerned but deciding to leave the subject alone, "This is my favorite movie. I hope you like it."

_Knock-Knock!_

Blossom's heart skipped a beat. "It's them!" she cried, as she instantly zoomed for the front door.

"What took you guys so-" she began to say, but her voice died out when she was greeted not by her sisters but by an all-too-familiar pair of shoes. She looked up to their owner, and gasped.

"Y-y-you're…ali-"

That was as far as she got, for she collapsed like a marionette soon after.

**********

Earlier before….

Never before has Bubbles felt so joyful. Even though she suffered greatly ever since the Rowdyruff crashed into the City Park, none of the previous events- being kidnapped, nearly losing her life, etc.- stood a chance against the sight of her creator, the professor, approaching to embrace her and her tomboyish sister with open arms. When they merged each other's warmth, it felt as though time stood still, as if the gods wished for this glorious moment to last forever. It was enough to make even Buttercup cry tears of happiness- an act, Bubbles knew, her sibling would deny to the end of time.

Unfortunately, the occasion was rudely interrupted when a sea of reporters suddenly swarmed around them, asking questions up the wazoo. The scientist tried his best to answer a few of the more important questions, but it soon became obvious that answering them all would take an eternity. So, after making an official quote, the Professor was hastily escorted out of the hospital via a quick-and-dirty hole in the building as Bubbles and Buttercup flew out with him in tow.

"Whew! Thank you, girls. I thought I'd never make it past those journalists," Professor Utonium said, as the three coasted together with the clouds.

"We'd do anything for you, dad," Bubbles responded gleefully.

While in flight, the two children briefly told their father about the events of the previous night. Needless to say, the professor was quite dismayed…but also confused. But he did not have the time to think about the Rowdyruff's unusual actions.

"Listen, girls," The professor began, "You know that this is not finished. As long as **he** is still out there, we'd never know peace, and it wouldn't be long before he moves on to terrorize the town.. Because of that, I've already started on a plan that will end this conflict once and for all; but in order to carry it out, we must go back home."

The two children nearly choked, halting their flight suddenly, nearly lurching the professor out of their grasp.

"B-b-back home?" Bubbles stammered.

"Don't make us go back in, professor!" Buttercup pleaded, "We can just stay at Robin's house…right?"

"No," the professor stated succinctly.

"B-but-!"

"Buttercup, Bubbles, pay attention to me closely: I can tell you two have suffered greatly. I've suffered too, thinking all this time I had lost you. And I bet that Blossom has suffered most of all. But your feelings of despair will never go away if you hide from the harsh reminders of your pain.

"Bad things happen to people all the time. Bad things have happened to us before. But we've proved to ourselves constantly that we have the strength to go on and make the most of what comes to us. Don't let that strength falter now. Understood?"

The sisters nodded in unison.

"Now, I'll need you two to repair the house while I go fetch Blossom. Ok?"

The sisters nodded once more, continuing their journey with the professor in the big, blue sky together.

**********

"Blossom?"

"Unngh…"

"Blossom, wake up."

The redhead, not having anything better to do, reluctantly exposed her eyes. All she could see was a powerful, blinding aura of artificial light. The eyes squinted almost instantly.

"Blossom, please wake up."

That voice…high in pitch, sweet, mitigating…it rang a familiar bell…

"Robin?" Blossom asked, unable to see her, or anything for that matter.

Blossom pushed herself up, feeling a soft fabric against her as she did so.

"Robin…Where am I?" asked the super heroine.

"In your house."

Blossom immediately gasped, covering her eyes tightly. "Why are we here?! Why?! Don't you see how terrible it is?!"

The troubled child heard her friend shuffle away.

"Blossom, what are you talking about?" Robin said, a bit scared by the sudden mood swing, "Everything looks ok!"

"What kind of friend are you?! Don't you see the destruction, the debris, the **blood** all round?!"

"But none of that's here!"

Blossom could not trust those words; the horrific images were still burned into her mind. Fear paralyzed her in place, as if she was a statue of flesh and bone.

Out. She had to get out. But she could not. Not unless she demolished what was left. Blossom could not bear to destroy what remained of her old home. Until she mustered up the courage to once again look upon her violated abode (which would never occur,) she would be trapped.

But then, Blossom suddenly remembered the face she had seen…that thin, square-jawed countenance, smiling with benevolence. Didn't that mean **he** was alive? The one who always guided her right? The one who loved her more than anything?

"Robin, I want to see the professor again. I want to hug him. I want to kiss him. I want to feel his warmth. Bring him to me, and I will open my eyes."

Tiny feet scurried away on carpeting. They faded into nothingness, only to morph into a new sound: a slow, rhythmic clopping.

_Is that him?_

Clop, clop, clop, clop…the sound grew louder until it halted right in front of her, stopping suddenly. Two gentle hands began to lift her upwards. Then, one brushed back her long hair while the other brought the girl close…close to him.

At last, his deep, reassuring voice spoke to her: "Open your eyes, Blossom."

Blossom, now totally convinced, opened her eyes to see her loving father.

"Professor…**dad**…"

She hugged him around the neck, planting a kiss on his cheek as she did so.

**********

Never has Buttercup felt so anxious. Everything seemed to be back the way it should be: Their house no longer looked like a piece of Swiss cheese from within; The professor was back on his feet; Robin no longer had to fear her evil, walking zombie corpse; Bubbles and Blossom finally regained their annoying, lame, **girlish** (but happy) personas; and, most importantly, the professor was back on his feet. Wait: didn't she think that already?

Buttercup is glad not because everyone's happy again: she's glad because she no longer has to endure the super-emotional, "Oh-my-god-my-world's-gonna-end" crap everyone seems addicted to in tragic situations. No longer would she be tortured by mushy feelings. Now everything was set for what she should've done earlier: kick some major gluteus maximus!

But what's this? Her family doesn't want to act! They just want to sit their cowardly butts in their newly-repaired home and PLAN!? What a load of bull! As if they really needed a plan: any monkey would see that they just had to corner the bum, pummel him, and viola! Albino Rowdyruff on a rotisserie! 

Don't they know that hesitation is weakness? 

Disgusted, Buttercup had retired to her bedroom, lying on the deluxe bed as she enjoyed the comfort of her new clothes. If she was going to fight, she might as well be prepared. Torn pajamas don't exactly scream "badass superhero." At least her sisters had the same line of logic.

The minutes began to stretch pretty darn long. Buttercup searched desperately for things to do. Tossed the ball against the wall…That got boring real quick. Threw darts…pffh! No challenge at all! Played her videogame…jumping over the water got painfully boring the 100th time around.

**"Gah!**** I can't take it anymore!"**

Her patience drained, the brunette child of super-powered ferocity zoomed out of the room, down the wall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where she cried out: **"HAVEN'T YOU BIG, FAT SISSIES FINISHED PLANNING YET!?"**

Everyone else, seated at the kitchen table, looked at her with a slight expression of annoyance.

"Actually, Buttercup, we have," said the professor.

Finally! "Well, what are we doing?" Buttercup asked impatiently.

"We're going to wait until he shows himself, trap him, inject him with Antidote X, and then eliminate him."

"Pffh! I could've come up with that!"

"That was just the short version. The long version has many more intricacies."

"Oh…but can't we just look for the guy?"

The scientist sighed. "No, we must wait **here. Searching for him would be pointless since he can travel around the world as fast as you, Blossom, and Bubbles can."**

"Gah!" exclaimed Buttercup, throwing up her arms, "This stinks! I want action, gosh darn it!"

Bubbles chimed in with a question: "Is Robin gonna be safe here?"

"I'm certain of it, Bubbles," Blossom answered, "You know why? Because we're the Powerpuff Girls! Protecting the innocent is our profession!"

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Buttercup said sarcastically, earning herself a one-way trip back to her bedroom.

"Besides," Blossom continued, as her feisty sibling left the room grumbling, "I doubt he even knows how to get here. He'd more likely trash some buildings in an attempt to get our attention. But we'll be ready for him!"

"I hope so," Bubbles said.

"I know so!"


	16. Irrational Emotions THE RETURN OF THE MI...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, as Pathie Zimbogous would say…"Bloody Hell!" :) The month of April had been a horrifically chaotic one, mostly due to the requirements of the educational system, so I was left with very little time to work on this contribution. Yes, it IS another "micro-chapter." (Please don't send the lynch mob. :) ) However, I can assure you that the following chapter will pick up directly where this one left off. And yes, I WILL try my best to shorten these waiting periods.

Leave a comment or two, if you so desire.  

**Chapter Sixteen**

_"There it is: our final destination."_

Pathie Zimbogous, peering inconspicuously from underneath a sewer lid, observed the home of the Malukian survivors. The building's appearance is as simple as it comes: two stories, three circular windows, and an integrated garage shed, all within the confines of the simplest rectangular structure ever to grace the albino's eyes. To him, it was barely a house: it was more like a cheap summer cottage. But then again, a typical Malukian home, regardless of regional culture, would probably stand out like a disco guy at a biker bar.

_"They did an excellent job of repairing that building,"_ Pathie said, recalling that he had blown a humongous hole through their entrance the previous night, _"It's as if nothing ever happened."_

Moments later, his small companion, Bullet the squirrel, joined the scout in his view. The four-legged female showed a surprising amount of control, though the irregular twitching of her body clearly communicated her urge to prance around in the grass like it was a gift from the gods.

The squirrel's dismal expression telegraphed the obvious question. _"No, not quite yet," _The scout answered, _"I need to make sure you understand the plan."_

Bullet nearly screamed in frustration_. "Pathie, we've gone over this stupid plan almost ten times!" she complained, obviously irritated from traveling through tunnels of putrid filth for a good chunk of the afternoon, _"I make a surprise visit and keep them distracted while you sneak in and grab the Estrox-46 from under their noses! There, I said it! Can I go outside now? I need to wash up BAD!"__

_"Excellent," _Pathie replied, _"Now hold still for a moment."_

_"What for?"_

_"You'll see."_

Uttering a soft command into the MPSD, the mentioned device bathed Bullet in a quick flash of energy. At first, Bullet did not notice any significance of this…but the change became obvious the moment the squirrel tried to speak.

"Cheep? Cheep-Cheep?! Cheep!"

_"Relax, Bullet," _Pathie assured, _"All I did was remove the translator. You have your native tongue once more, though you'll still understand me for at least a few more minutes. You have to understand: If you approached them speaking their language, especially in such a fluid manner, they'd instantly suspect something. Besides, if I am not successful I don't want you to pay for it. I wouldn't want your friends in the forest to lose their sole protection from the dominant race."_

Bullet softly nodded.

_"Bullet," _Pathie continued, after pausing for a moment, _"This will most likely be the last time we talk to each other. So I wanted to say…Thanks. If I **am** successful, the remnants of the Malukian race will forever remember your assistance._

_"Now go. And be sure to make yourself presentable," _the scout added with a smirk.

Bullet returned the modest smile before scurrying out into the suburban terrain. With a deep sigh, Pathie closed down the sewer lid as he floated back down to the subterranean corridors of rancid waste. He rested against the legs of the ladder that led up to the surface, just like he did against the massive trunk of bark the night before.

_"Computer, activate mirror."_

Six dots hovered in front of him, aligning into a hexagon before the reflective surface materialized in its area. At once, the scout saw his grotesqueness. The large, grey-colored eyes gleamed with moisture, for the whites of them were stricken with a sickly shade of red. His albino skin protruded bumps of severe acne, making his cheeks resemble minefields. Last, but not least, an examination of the teeth revealed enamel saturated in yellow tartar, as well as blood-red gums. And need be mentioned the chaotic mess of his short, silvery hair?

_Heh, it's just like being a teen again…only older. Agh, I must've caught half of the planet's bleedin' diseases down here. At least Bullet was nice about it._

_"Computer, inject me with the maximum dosage of G-PAB."_

A few warning bleeps. _"Confirm injection of General-Purpose AntiBiotics?"_

_"Yes, of course."_

_"Even though you've had three administrations of G-PAB already?"_

_"It's not my fault my fault that the gas mask couldn't handle the strain! Give it to me!"_

_"As you wish."_

The icy sensation of the medicine gradually flowed throughout his blood vessels, encompassing him in a state of blissful calm.

_Sigh…if only G-PAB was derived from the Estrox-46 instead of our own natural chemical…this wonder-drug could've squashed that terrible plague well before the death toll rose dramatically. But then again…nature finds a way…_

As the medicine continued its work, the scout's mind wandered onto other subjects:

_Those Malukian survivors…I wonder how much Estrox-46 they have stored in that building. They must have quite a bundle. That blonde girl I encountered didn't have any signs of sickness. None. That woman…that beautiful, golden-haired woman…perfect…if only I could turn back the clock…I could've been her hero…_

_Actually, I shouldn't fantasize like that. Surely, there will be other women when I get back, right? That's right…there will be other women…even though…they'll pale…in comparison…to her…_

_…_

_Dammit, Pathie! Get a grip! The only reason **she** keeps popping up in your head is because you feel sorry for hurting her! What's done is done! You blew it! You'll never have another chance with her, just like you'll never have a chance with anyone else! Get over it!_

_"G-PAB administration complete," _the MPSD chimed.

_Now, if only G-PAB could vanquish irrational emotions…then I could actually focus on what's **important. It doesn't matter that my life is completely screwed. What matters is saving my race from extinction. Nothing else. To hell with my social life.**_

The scout once again looked into the mirror. All blemishes were gone, leaving behind a countenance of perfect structure. But the white-hot flames of resolve burned in his searing glare. 

He rose from his resting spot. _"To hell with my social life!"_

_"Computer, deactivate the mirror and activate the cloaking device. It's about time I got what I came for!"_


	17. Infiltration

Author's Note: And so, the story continues…Not much to say this time around, except that this story is finally reaching the home stretch. Somehow, this story will be concluding in the future…but just exactly how is still up in the air (I wouldn't just give away the ending, now, would I? :)  ) I guess the delays of my chapters (not to mention the length) has dwindled the number of readers who take a serious look at this story. But that doesn't mean I plan to execute a shoddy job. That would make my previous efforts mean nothing, after all.

If you can, please leave a few comments to let me know how I'm doing. I need to be careful not to lose my touch. :)

**Chapter Seventeen**

Tap…tap…tap…tap…tap…

The sound of Robin's rhythmic motion of the foot echoed in the house. Normally, her time was better spent playing with the Powerpuff girls; but no one felt like playing that afternoon. The awful tensions of the atmosphere forbid it. Instead, Robin, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup sat at a kiddy-sized table in the kitchen, quietly nibbling on some tiny, cheese-flavored goldfish that gathered in a plastic bowl. Professor Utonium had no immediate presence, for the scientist was hard at work in the basement laboratory ensuring that the tools for resolving the crisis worked without flaw.

The usually cheery blonde broke the uneasy silence. "Blossom?"

"Yes, Bubbles?" answered the redhead.

"Why hasn't the Rowdyruff been seen yet?"

"I don't know."

More silence followed. Buttercup softly grinded a few crackers to powder. Bubbles meekly played pretend, swishing the snacks around in the air like they were actual fish in the sea. Robin continued her tapping. Blossom merely stared.

The quiet ambience collapsed again, this time because of the superheroes' playmate. "Um…is there anything to drink?"

"There should be some milk in the fridge, Robin," Blossom replied, not breaking her empty trance.

"Does anyone else want some milk?" The young friend inquired.

The trio shook their heads, though they did not bother to look at Robin face-to-face.

Moments later, Robin placed a quart of milk on the table. She popped off the cap and clumsily poured the nutritious drink into a small, transparent cup, taking every caution to avoid spilling the beverage. After setting aside the plastic container, Robin prepared to sate her thirst; but she paused when the prolonged staring of the Powerpuff girls towards her milk caught her attention.

"Is something wrong?" Robin asked, uneasy.

The superheroes did not answer at first; but Bubbles soon spoke up, sounding drained: "That milk…it's like that Rowdyruff."

Robin cocked her head. "It is?"

"So white…so cold."

The playmate backed slightly away. "Are you sure you guys are ok? I thought your dad said we'd get this guy."

"How can we 'get' him if he doesn't even bother to show up?" Buttercup said bitterly.

"He's playing games with us, trying to make us lose our game face," Blossom speculated, "But he's just wasting time. With all of us together, he'll be no match for our strength."

"But Blossom, what if he picks us off one-by-one?" Bubbles asked, obviously troubled, "I don't want that needle in me…ever."

"We stay together, we defeat him," Blossom reiterated, "And we _will_ stay together as long as we-"

Ding-Dong!

The eyes of the children grew wide as the doorbell's chime resonated throughout the house.

"Someone's at the door," Robin whispered.

"Yeah, we kind of figured that," The brunette answered sarcastically.

"Who's going to answer the door?"

Bubbles shrunk into her chair. "Not me."

"I…I just can't," Blossom replied, slightly trembling.

Buttercup grew uneasy as the eyes of the other children fixated upon her. "Fine then, I'll open the stupid door. Cowards."

The green-clad brunette levitated out of her seat, floating through the lounge as the other girls watched nervously from a distance. Soon enough, the door leading to the suburbia and beyond was before her.

Ding-Dong!

Buttercup gritted her teeth. _I'm not scared…I'm not scared…I'm not scared…_

The child's left "hand," unsteady from the anxiety, grasped the doorknob firmly. Its opposing twin pulled back with its respective arm, prepping to administer significant punishment in the case that the bell-ringer proved hostile.

Ding-Dong!

Unable to wait any further, Buttercup swung open the door with a force that tore the entryway from its hinges. Truth be told, she half-expected the albino Rowdyruff to be at the door, smiling like a sadistic psycho. But it is doubtful that anyone in that house expected a surprise visit from the super-powered, female squirrel they befriended not too long ago.

Upon seeing Bullet, Buttercup dropped the door from her hold. "Girls! You won't believe who's here!"

**********

Pathie Zimbogous, hidden by his MPSD's cloaking device, watched silently from atop the branch of a nearby tree as Bullet received a warm welcome from the trio of Malukian women.

_Wow! _The scout thought, _Those__ there are like…like…agh, I can't find the words…Oh, this is **so** unfair._

Unfair, Indeed. The Malukian male quickly realized that the immense appeal of the blonde was merely a sampling of the incredibly hot trio of vixens taking refuge on the planet. The brunette's feisty curls, the redhead's perfect smile, the blonde's innocent radiance…if there ever was a time to kneel and thank the deities for the gift of sight, now would most certainly be it. In fact, Pathie the voyeur nearly proceeded with taking pictures when he reminded himself of some important facts. One: to acquire photos of sexy Malukian women would most likely lead to very dirty things. Two: any actual hope of even knowing them was shot to death by the circumstances. And three: his fear of women due to traumatic life events would've shot his chances anyway.

_I'll just have to try to repress those thoughts…well, maybe just **one** picture…_

Moments later, a digital photo was added to his personal database. 

_I guess I'll always have a soft spot for that blonde. But I've digressed. I have some Estrox to extract._

After waiting patiently for the squirrel and the refugees to enter the building, Pathie floated stealthily to the exposed entrance.

_Their security appears to be close to nil. Still, I must be careful._

Pathie, laying prone just inches off the floor, snuck into the awaiting room like a slithering snake. He stopped to the right of the couch in the center, peeking over its armrest towards the adjacent room in white.

_Perfect._

Bullet, the Malukian girls, and what appeared to be a human child were noisily chatting away while seated at a round table. The squirrel, in particular, began to perform various acrobatics, stealing smiles from all around. Clearly, Pathie's assistant knew how to put on a show.

Slipping back behind the couch, Pathie activated his Estrox detector, though the importance of suppressing noise meant he discarded voice commands for a basic keypad. The disc's display showed the cluster of four dots he was already familiar with. However, one isolated dot revealed to have a much higher reading of Estrox energy. 

_That's the 46-type, no doubt. And the readings show it is on a subterranean level._

Pathie scanned his surroundings. Much to his dismay, no visible door easily revealed itself as the entryway to the lower levels. That meant the scout had no choice but to test every route. Doing so is normally not very wise, due to a Malukian's acute hearing senses; but no other course of action could be taken.

_So much for being easy.___

Pathie opted to try the sole door in sight, and thus began to float towards it. But before he could get in range of the operating knob, the door suddenly opened to reveal a gigantic human moving at immense speed whose feet was about to trample over the scout like a rampaging elephant.

_Fudge!_ Pathie cursed in his mind, as he quickly rolled to the side in an attempt to elude the black, leather feet. Unfortunately, his reaction proved too slow: a foot kicked Pathie's shoulder, spiking pain in his body while causing the white giant to topple over like a plastic domino. It cried out upon impacting the floor, attracting the attention of all who were playing in the kitchen.

"Professor! Are you ok?" called the blonde, as the whole freakin' group gathered around the fallen giant, oblivious to the scout's invisible presence nearby.

_Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic! _Pathie mentally warned himself, as he lay still as a lifeless rock.

"Oh…I must be getting clumsy," said the giant, "I was running up the stairs and out that door when I suddenly tripped over something!"

"Hmm, that's strange. There's nothing on the floor around here," observed the redhead.

"Heh, I bet ya just tripped over your own feet," said the brunette, "At least ya didn't bash your head open."

The giant got to his feet. "You're probably right, Buttercup. Oh, hello there Bullet! Didn't know you came in!"

At last, the whole group walked (or flew) back to the kitchen, conveniently leaving the basement door open as the scout snuck down the stairway to the location of his mission objective.

**********

Back in the kitchen, the Powerpuff girls helped their aching father soothe the pain by administering a thorough, pleasant back massage as he rested upon a metal stool. Being able to hover, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup eased the muscles on his whole back all at once, much like a vibrating chair but with the precise expertise of a professional massager. Robin and Bullet watched this technique curiously as they continued to devour the cheese-flavored goldfish crackers.

"Oooh," The professor cooed, "That feels _good_."

"A massage always helps after a nasty fall," Blossom stated.

"I couldn't agree more," The professor agreed enthusiastically.

As the superhero children continued their pleasurable treatment for the scientist, Robin piped in with a question, though her words were slight garbled by the crackers in her mouth. "Mr. Utonium, why were you running up the stairs?"

"I'm sorry, you said something?" asked the professor.

"Why were you running up the stairs?" Robin inquired again, this time with more amplitude.

"Say again?"

The youngster, frustrated for obvious reasons, hastily swallowed her food before shouting out her question like a shrieking banshee, thereby rushing the professor to his date with the tiled floor. The massagers once again rushed to their creator's aide, helping him back to his seat while glaring at the fellow youth. Needless to say, Robin shrunk from the embarrassment. The resident squirrel, meanwhile, shrugged and remarked on the impatience inherent in human children.

"Well, now that you have my full attention," the professor said, holding his throbbing head, "I'll tell you why I ran up the stairs. But everyone should sit down first; this will be very important. Bubbles, be sure to translate for Bullet. She should know about this as well."

Acquiring booster seats, the children sat at the adult sized table while the squirrel rested on all fours on the table itself. They listened (and Bubbles interpreted for the squirrel) as Professor Utonium spoke to them solemnly of the current issue at hand.

"As we have already learned, this…_creation, this Rowdyruff, has proven to be very dangerous. It is not clear exactly what his objectives are, nor is it clear whether or not it even has a rational mind. But whether the Rowdyruff is sadistic or insane, the creation is nevertheless hostile. Hostile and formidable._

"There is no telling how truly powerful this monstrosity can become. For all we know, It can easily overwhelm thousands of superheroes, never mind three or four. Thus, the only sure way to eliminate this threat is to siphon away the source of the Rowdyruff's power until it is too weak to even harm a fly. 

"Only the properties of Antidote X are capable of accomplishing such a herculean task. However successfully administrating that chemical is a colossal task within itself, for it would be near-impossible  to keep the creature still to splash the chemical unto its skin. Thus, I have engineered an invention that will help to bring this crisis to a permanent end.

"This invention is quite simple. It is a fully autonomous machine with three main components: a multitude of titanium-alloy tentacles that stretch to the length of half a football field; six lenses that serve as both visual sensors and anti-X-gas laser emitters; and a spherical body housing its circuitry. It is capable of great speed and agility, due to its anti-gravity generator. It can absorb power from lasers, electricity, and the like to charge its battery. This machine is near-impossible to turn to scrap, for even if a tentacle was torn off, its cache of nano-bots would instantly rebuild it. Overall, there is no other invention out there would even approach its efficiency.

"When the Rowdyruff reveals itself, the robot will activate upon detecting the creation's genetic signature, seek out its target, and reduce that target to a weakling. If the target proves too resistive, the robot will resort to any means necessary to incapacitate the creation. One way or another, that machine will triumph.

"However, in the case that the creation reveals itself now, there is a warning that I must-"

BOOM!

The Utonium household quaked violently as a white streak of energy shot through its floors and ceiling, hotly pursued by an abomination of scientific progress whose numerous tentacles flailed wildly in the open air. All toppled to the ground, caught off-guard by the sudden destruction. However, the Powerpuff Girls quickly recovered from the stunning blast and promptly flew up, stopping just above the newly conceived hole in the house.

"Look!" Blossom exclaimed, pointing in the distance, "It's the Rowdyruff! It's being chased by the professor's robot!"

"Alright! Now we're gonna get some action!" Buttercup exclaimed, "Let's follow them!"

The brunette zoomed off in chase, prompting Blossom to follow suit. Bubbles, however, hesitated for a quick moment, before finally deciding to join her sisters in the chase.

As the superheroes sped off into the distance, the others managed to finally snapped out of their brief stupor.

"Oh, no…oh, no!" The professor wailed.

"What's wrong, Mr. Utonium?" Asked Robin.

"I wasn't able to warn them…it all happened too fast…my girls are flying to their deaths!"

The youngster gasped.

"Robin, we must warn them of the robot's programming! Get to the car, quickly!"

The child and adult, not even realizing they were leaving Bullet in the dust, ran around the newfound destruction in the house and headed outside to the car, racing down the road as soon as the two hopped into the vehicle.

Bullet, bewildered by what just happened, stared at the immense damage of the house.

_I don't know who to believe anymore, _the female squirrel thought, _But__ I should help my friends however I can._

At once she flew into the open sky, leaving the home barren and destroyed once more.


	18. Confrontation

**Author's Note: **Aw, crap…This chapter is so horrifically late. I can hear the chanting of the lynch mob thump through my computer monitor. Laziness combined with over-ambition has extended this story just a few more chapters. But don't despair! I have no intentions of pulling a "Dragon Ball Z" on the audience of readers. The conclusion will come soon. All I ask is for patience.

Of course, if you think my writing is starting to falter, be sure to point it out. Although I am my harshest critic, it is easy to not see the flaws when my egotism clouds my judgement.

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

The Townsville cityscape was merely a blur. The clouds of the afternoon sky stretched into streaks of white. The air itself pushed like a hurricane wind. No doubt about it: Pathie Zimbogous was going _ridiculously fast. But the scout had no intentions of obtaining an adrenaline rush. He was fleeing for survival._

Moments earlier, the albino extra-terrestrial had finally found the rare chemical, Estroxilium-46, within the lower sectors of the refugee's abode. The sheer amount of the chemical was staggering, for there was enough to cure a dozen planet's worth of inhabitants, even though it was stored in a container the size of a peanut butter jar. The scout could barely contain his joy, slightly chuckling as his MPSD de-molecularized the material for storage. One can easily imagine, then, the scout's shock when a mechanical monstrosity burst from the shadows to land a sucker punch into his gut. Fortunately, military training allowed Pathie to avoid loss of consciousness, and he promptly made an escape route though the floors up above and into the awaiting sky…but, as he quickly realized, eluding the robot wasn't going to be easy.

_I should have known I was sneaking myself into a trap! _Pathie thought, as he looked back to see the multi-tentacle machine relentlessly pursuing him.

The only saving grace in the otherwise horrible situation was that the Estrox was completely stored before the monstrosity pounced. But what good would it be if the machine won the chase? The robot certainly wasn't taking any prisoners.

Pathie looked down to the human city. _"I might be able to lose that thing in the alleys,"  he said to himself, _"Surely its mobility has limitations."__

The scout instantly dive-bombed straight down into the unsuspecting city, as if he planned to crash into the unforgiving cement of the roads. Moments before impact, however, the suicidal trajectory morphed in a blink of an eye, plunging into the narrow corridors of the city while flying just inches off the ground.

_If that robot doesn't crash into the ground, it will surely get lost through here! _He thought, smiling at how his natural powers allow him to defy the laws of physics.

Left and right Pathie turned through the neglected alleys, sending trashcans, their contents, stray animals, and the occasional bum twirling chaotically in his wake. Like a true Malukian soldier, he displayed great agility, effortlessly turning on the dime at every corner. Despite all the twists in his path, however, it didn't take long for the scout to find himself on the main road once more.

Flying down the said road, Pathie turned his head. Not a single sign of the robot anywhere.

_"Ha! I knew it would be-UNGH!"_

Just when the scout was about to gloat, the universe decided to play a nasty prank on him when it placed a large, metal-forged park statue of the Powerpuff girls in his path. The top of Pathie's noggin collided with solid steel. It didn't stop the soldier completely, but the resulting concussion caused one of the most spectacular wipeouts in the history of spectacular wipeouts, taking out nine lampposts, three mailboxes, a few benches, numerous trees, and the smooth surfaces of several sports cars before his back smashed into the front windshield of a patrolling police vehicle.

The men inside that vehicle slammed on the brakes, launching a battered Pathie back onto the pavement.

"Holy freakin' crap! Is that what I think it is?!"

"Get your gun ready! Call for back-up!"

"Mayday! Mayday! We have a code red on North Main, I repeat, code red on North Main! Requesting back-up immediately!"

**********

In the sky, the Powerpuff Girls flew in a tight Delta formation, as they always do. Blossom, serving as the spearhead of the formation, scanned the city below them, anxious to discover the whereabouts of the Rowdyruff.

"Darn it, how could we lose him like that?" a slightly raspy voice complained from Blossom's left.

"Well, they _were_ going pretty fast," a sweet, innocent voice replied from Blossom's right.

 "Yeah, but not _that _fast!" Buttercup rebutted.

Just then, Blossom's bulb clicked. "Bubbles, Buttercup, stop for a minute!"

"What for?" Buttercup asked.

"I might be able to pinpoint their location if I can use my super-hearing skills. But I can't hear much of anything far away if the wind is blowing on my face!" Blossom explained.

"Hmph! Why do that? That Rowdyruff's bound to start smashing things, so he shouldn't be too hard to spot!" Buttercup argued.

"I don't see any destruction. Do you?"

Blossom's statement effectively silenced the brunette, who grumbled to herself as the trio slowed to a halt in the air. The red-head then closed her eyes, as she focused all her attention on the intricate details of the aural atmosphere. Buttercup watched with growing impatience, while Bubbles looked on with her natural curiosity. Minutes passed, until…

"Eureka!"

Bubbles and Buttercup felt a brief surge of adrenaline as Blossom's exclamation startled them.

"What? What do you hear? What do you hear?" Buttercup asked, caught up in the impending excitement.

"A police officer is chattering on his radio about a "code-red" situation, and he sounds absolutely terrified! The Rowdyruff's gotta be near him!"

"Well, what the heck are we waiting for!?" Buttercup cried, "Let's get going already!"  
"Follow me!" Blossom commanded, blasting off in the direction of the Rowdyruff, her sisters following suit.

**********

_How convenient…I escape one predicament only to land myself in another!_

Down on the streets of the city, Pathie Zimbogous faced an ugly situation. The barrels of two Nine-Millimeter Glock pistols aimed at his heart and forehead, held in the shaking hands of two policemen taking cover behind the doors of a marked patrol car. One of the cops was already shouting at Pathie to place his hands behind his head.

_I don't know how powerful and accurate those guns may be, and I can't understand them…How am I going to defuse this?_ Pathie thought.

The shouting grew in amplitude as the faraway wail of sirens began to close in on the scout. 

_Protocol dictates that I can't use lethal force on indigenous life unless I have no other choice…yet if I'm not quick enough, I could be killed. But taking these humans out for certain would bring the planet's whole army upon me...I will get nothing out of a massacre._

One of the cops suddenly fired a warning shot, marking the asphalt near Pathie's feet with a newly formed bullet-hole.

_Then again, **living wouldn't be such a terrible idea!**_

The scout charged forward with ludicrous speed, catching one of the officers completely off-guard as he grabbed the hapless human by the collar and flipped in mid-air, slamming his first target into the ground in the process. The second hostile tried to fire his weapon, but two stumps of albino flesh crushed the dominant hand into the gun's blocky grip, shattering bones as well as the pistol itself. The man's resulting scream ended abruptly as a tiny foot smashed into his diaphragm, forcing all the air out of the lungs as he crumpled to the ground, losing consciousness.

_That should pass for non-lethal force,_ Pathie thought, observing his handiwork, _Although__ the ease of that execution is a bit of a surprise to me. I guess their guns aren't very well-developed. Now, to get to safety…_

"Hold it right there, you big meanie!"

Pathie's eyes grew wide in surprise. _I recognize that voice…_

He turned around and looked upwards towards the direction of the voice. Up in the sky, the blonde he had inadvertently terrorized glared down on him with eyes that bore into his conscience. The other two refugees floated by her side, bearing the same expression.

_Bloody hell…_

**********

_"How can these humans find their way through all this molded rock? It's like a beehive in this settlement!"_

Bullet, the super-powered female squirrel, found herself to be hopelessly lost in the labyrinth of the concentrated human habitat, much in the same way that a man or woman would be lost in the depths of her sylvan landscape. It didn't help that the streets below swarmed with the chaos of panicked city-dwellers, running in mindless, twisting paths like sheep chased by wolves. 

_Well, at least I know I'm in the right place…these folks run around whenever there's serious trouble nearby. But is that "trouble" the people I'm looking for? _Bullet thought.

She continued her search through the city, flying just above the streets to avoid the numerous stampedes. 

_What am I going to do when I find them? If they got to each other first, they'll be fighting for sure. Based on what Pathie said, none of the Malukians would want to talk this out. I'll be forced to take sides. That would be awful!_

_If things get out of hand, Bubbles and the others might end up destroying everything. The humans' settlement could be reduced to rubble. And if they move to other regions, my own home could be destroyed! So many could become homeless…or hurt...or dead!_

_What am I going to do?!_

So heightened was the squirrel's sense of anxiety that she nearly ignored the fact that a gigantic pachinko pellet with metallic squid tentacles opted to ram head-on into her tiny frame. 

_What th-?!_

Bullet could not finish that thought, since the force of the blow shot her through the air and into the concrete of a nearby building. Moments later, she felt tubes of steel wrap around her furry body as the mechanical monstrosity assumed dominance. The squirrel's eyes looked into the artificial lens of the machine. She saw the green hues of death on the other side, preparing to burst forth from the lifeless sight of the hunter. 

_NO!_

Like the lead projectile from which she derives her name, Bullet shot skyward, tearing off a piece of the tentacle in the process. The metal tentacle returned to its over moments later, smacking the "body" of the machine with the force of an incoming train. The robot barely flinched, and snapped its view directly towards the squirrel. She watched in horror as the machine picked up its tentacle and snapped it back in perfect place, melding it to its artificial frame in seconds. Then, it continued on its mission as the tentacles shot towards Bullet. The female mammal barely had enough time to dodge the second strike as the hostile extensions of the machine demolished everything else they impacted.

Fright sent Bullet zooming through Townsville as the robot began its relentless chase.

**********

"Well, what do we have here…"

_Well…what do we have here…_

"You've been doing very bad things."

_You're still pretending to be like them._

"Leaving a crater in the park…"

_Have you lost hope in your own race?_

"Harming police officers…"

_The façade cannot hide your suffering. I can sense you're not truly happy._

"And harming our own sister."

_You know why I am here. You know what I have to do. And I am not going to sacrifice myself for the sake of three when I can save the millions who cannot flee, even if they wanted to._

"Now it is time to end this."

_I have no choice but to end this, however tragic the outcome will be._

"Get ready to fight, Rowdyruff!"

_"…"_

_**********_

The battle commenced with little hesitation. 


	19. Confrontation Part Deux

**Author's Note: **The home stretch continues. I think you guys will like this one, for the ending of the chapter leads to an interesting turning point. Keep the criticism rolling. :)

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

"Damn…it's like a war-zone down here."

"Man, we shouldn't even be out here! We should be hiding like everyone else!"

Boris Wiltzer, the television news reporter, drove his media van cautiously through the various casualties of mass destruction. His cowardly cameraman sat in the passenger seat, visibly shaken by Townsville's scenes of chaos.

"As appealing as that sounds, Billy," Boris replied as he squeezed the car through the space between two burning hulks of metal, "We have to get the story on this. If we run away now, the suits will fire us for sure!"

"I know, I know; but there's something about dying a horrible, gruesome death that really bothers me, you know!" Billy blurted out, squeezing the very life out of his rubber stress reliever.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Boris snapped, "If we go live with you all jittery, the footage's going to be- OH SHIT!"

Boris floored the brake pedal, causing the van to skid wildly down the road before stopping.

"Get down!" The reporter shouted to his cameraman, as the two of them tore off their seatbelts and dove out of sight below the windshield.

Boris' eye had caught the sight of a horde of hysterical human beings rounding a corner ahead of the van. Had those panicked people caught sight of Boris and Billy, they would've swarmed the van like flies on crap, crying to the newspeople for rescue before stealing the van for themselves. Instead, they stampeded right on by, flowing around the vehicle like a river of flesh.

Once safe, Boris and Billy rose back to their seats. The cameraman's stress reliever had now been strangled to death, its spherical shape ruined. Boris wiped the sweat off his forehead, doing his best to regain his composure. 

"That was too close for comfort," the reporter sighed in relief.

"Can we go home now? Billy eeped, "I need a new stress reliever."

"We can't go back now, Billy, we're already in too deep as it is," Boris snapped, reassuming control of the wheel.

"Need something…to squeeze," Billy droned.

Boris hastily shifted gears as the van began to accelerate down the road again.

"Billy, think about what will happen if we get this event on the air," Boris said, trying to calm his co-worker's nerves, "There'd be enough action and excitement to rival a Jerry Bruckheimer film. You'd be sure to get a pay raise, if not a full promotion."

"Must…squeeze," Billy droned.

"Come on, Billy! Don't phase out on me now! I promise I'll buy you a new stress reliever. Just don't panic!"

The cameraman suddenly fell silent.

"Billy?"

A gleam coated his eyes as a psychotic grin emerged on his face.

"Billy? Are you listening to me? Say som-"

Upon diverting his eyes from the road to look at his partner, Boris Wiltzer's breath suddenly escaped him. To his horror, he realized that the occupant in the passenger seat was eyeing him like a pound serving of filet mignon.

"Must…squeeze…NOW!" Billy shrieked, before his hands shot to Boris' manly breasts and clamped onto them with the strength of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Boris, at once physically violated and enveloped in unspeakable, horrible pain, cried out numerous profanities as his right arm started to frantically punch the cameraman. At the same time his left arm barely kept control of the van, so the vehicle swerved left and right, barely avoiding the debris. Then, to make matters even worse, the van sped through a tremendous oil slick. The sudden loss of friction spun the vehicle like a top, forcing screams of despair out of both occupants. On the plus side, however, Billy regained his senses, so he was no longer violating Boris' chest.

"If we survive this, remind me to kill you!" Boris yelled as he made a futile effort to avert an imminent crash.

Billy had no chance to respond, since the van suddenly smashed head-on into a brick wall, smothering his face with the airbags as a result. Upon recovering from this sudden loss of momentum, Boris and Billy literally fell out of their seats and onto the open road. Flirting with danger had done a swell job of taxing their health. However, they still had the sense to check the van for damage.

"Wonderful," Boris commented, "Just wonderful."

The van, for a lack of a better word, had been totaled. Its front half got crushed much so like a tin can, damaging the engine well beyond repair.

"Well, that settles it. We're screwed. Totally screwed. With our car out of commission, there's no way we could do a live feed. Dammit Billy! why'd you have to lose your marbles?!"

Billy bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Boris. I don't know what came over me," he said. Then he suddenly pulled his head back up. "Hey, who said it had to be a live feed? We can just make a videotape for the six o' clock showing!"

"Hey, you're right!" Boris agreed, "Well, don't just stand there, get the camera out of the car!"

The cameraman fulfilled this command, the aforementioned object resting upon his shoulder moments later.

"The camera's all ready, Boris. Should I start filming?" Billy asked.

"No, you fool! Not now!" The news reporter snapped, "We need to get to where the action is!"

"Boris, man, you're crazy!" Billy exclaimed, "It's bad enough you wanted to drive into this hellhole, but know you want us to go to ground zero BY FOOT!? That's suicide!"

"If all we film is the aftermath, the footage is going to suck. Big time. And besides, who said we had to be on foot? With any luck, we can hitch a ride."

"What!? You're definitely crazy! Who's going to come this way? There's a rampaging robot and a superhuman battle royale down that way!"

In one of those freaky moments of impeccable timing, a single, white station wagon wildly turned a corner, popping up suddenly in view of the two reporters. Tires screeching, the family car stopped as quickly as it appeared, saving the unsuspecting cameraman from a potentially horrible accident. The loud noise did prompt Billy to turn around, however.

'Well, I'll be damned!" Billy cursed.

Boris didn't waste any time. Running up to the driver- a square-jawed man in a white lab coat with a little girl as his passenger- Boris pleaded, "For the love of god, sir, please give us a ride!"

"I have no time for this," The man replied anxiously, "My girls need me! Please get out of the way!"

"What, you're going to just leave us here?" Billy asked, "That's not very neighborly."

"Sir, if you allow us to ride in the back, I promise you my cameraman and I will be as unnoticeable as possible," Boris said, "Besides the people deserve to know what's going on. Surely you can set things straight?"

The driver hesitated, looking at the news reporter, the little girl, the cameraman, his steering wheel, and back to the news reporter. Finally he replied, "Oh alright, then. Get in quickly!"

"Thanks, professor," Boris said with a grin as he and Billy hopped into the back seats.

"Now would be a good time to turn on that camera," Boris whispered to Billy.

"Right," Billy said meekly, pressing a button to begin recording.

"You two better buckle up," The professor warned, "The ride's going to be rough."

He underlined that statement by flooring the gas pedal, rocketing the station wagon down the abandoned city road. What they'll encounter down the road is anyone's guess.

**********

"YEARRGH! TAKE THIS, YOU FREAK!" shouted Buttercup as she swung a lamppost down upon the Rowdyruff's head. He barely dodged the attack, the head of the post grazing his face as another crater was formed at the point of impact.

"Darn it, what's it going to take to bring you down?!" The brunette cried, as she continued her smashing with the lamppost, keeping the pressure high on her enemy.

The silver-haired albino surely would've replied; but he was never going to get a moment's rest to do so. The Powerpuff girls –Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup- have been ganging up on the menace with unparalleled ferocity. Problem is, either  he is tremendously lucky or ridiculously skilled, for he was always one step ahead of their offenses. Every attempt to confront the Rowdyruff up-close resulted in staggering blows that knocked the girls back like golf balls. That didn't hinder the Powerpuff's resolve, however: That Rowdyruff HAS to tire sooner or later. It is all a matter of keeping up the pressure.

And indeed, the tables were certainly turning. Despite the power of his punches and kicks, the Rowdyruff's numerous scars outnumber the wounds of the three girls combined. Many of his older wounds had been painfully torn back open during the combat. If it were not for the charcoal cloth, the resulting view would've been nightmarish. Bubbles certainly would've fainted upon seeing such a ravaged body.

Both ends of the street were blocked off by policemen while Blossom and Bubbles circled around the enemy, effectively boxing him in. Buttercup kept up the attacks, swinging repeatedly at the Rowdyruff's skull as the asphalt below them gradually turned into gravel.

"Keep it up, Buttercup!" Blossom shouted, "He's starting to wheeze!"

Upon hearing Blossom's words, Buttercup's cockiness grew to astronomical levels. She swung the lamppost as far behind her head as possible, preparing for the coup le tat; but before she could unleash her attack, the Rowdyruff seized opportunity by quickly grabbing the head of the lamppost and swinging the other end mightily into the pavement. The counter-attack worked perfectly, smashing Buttercup face down into the pavement. Before the realization of what just happened even registered in the other girl's brains, the albino whipped the lamppost around in a half-circle, catching Blossom on the neck. The red-head flew all the way to the police cars blocking off the road, smashing into the car door of one such vehicle before crumpling to the ground like a ragdoll.

For Bubbles, time had suddenly stopped. Something suddenly clicked. Buttercup wasn't moving. Blossom didn't scream when the blow was struck. They were out cold. Or worse. No one remained at her side. No one. She was alone. All alone.

Alone except for _him._

The Rowdyruff turned to face Bubbles, lamppost in hand. His face showed the expression of internal pain.

**********

Pathie Zimbogous turned to face the blonde, the long shaft of metal firmly gripped in his hands. Guilt tore at his conscience as he saw the girl tremble with fear.

_I hate all this, I really do._

He wiped the mixture of blood and sweat off his forehead.

_There's no way I can leave her to the mercy of a foreign world. But I'm running out of options._

He stood the post upright, leaning upon it to rest his fatigue, all the while keeping his eye on the blonde. 

_If I don't leave for home soon, I will find myself truly alone. If I go now, **she will be alone, and at the mercy of those empty souls who manipulate her.**_

_I can't accept that. She deserves life. She is pure. I can't prove it; I just know it. No one with a corrupt mind could have an aura as innocent as hers._

_Now, The time to ask is now._

Pathie dropped the metal shaft upon the ground. It clanked loudly on its ends before it laid silent and lifeless. The blonde did not even twitch. Fear had visibly petrified her.

_"Young miss," _Pathie began, _"I…I don't want you to suffer anymore. I am tired of giving you grief…"_

The scout took cautionary steps forward, wiping his forehead again as his own anxiety caught up with him. The blonde began to slide back.

_"My mission states that I must do what I can to ensure the survival of our kind. Everything I've done so far has been for the purpose of fulfilling that mission. But I had nearly forgotten how one single person could outweigh the importance of an entire race."_

The blonde now found herself pressed against a brick wall. Her eyes opened wider as she watched Pathie slowly close the gap between them.

_"Back home, even before the pandemic started, I had always felt alone. Sure, I had family and friends, but all they can do is be your companions. I wanted something they could not provide. I wanted to be **loved**._

_"But love never came to me. The girls back home…they're so vicious. They just want someone else to be the breadwinner. That's why I eventually left the planet entirely. I figured I'd be better off alone than at the mercy of heartless witches._

_"But you…You're not like them. It's like…you're like…a child of heaven. Only a demonic soul could ever find anything at fault with you. You're so…perfect!"_

Pathie suddenly collapsed to his knees, his position just a few feet from the blonde. His head bowed low as he began to choke on his tears. He didn't care how pathetic he looked; only the girl mattered.

_"I don't expect you to love me back. There's no way I could ever atone my wrongdoing against you. But for the love of god, don't let yourself waste away on such a god-forsaken rock! Don't you see that there's no benefit in living a lie? Stay here and you would know how it's like to be alone. But come back home with me and your angelic posterity would benefit the Malukians more than all the Estrox in the universe!"_

Pathie slowly lifted his head. He saw that the blonde no longer pressed against the wall. She was now looking at Pathie…with confusion?

It didn't matter to the scout however. He outstretched a single hand. _"Young miss, will you please come home?"_

The blonde cocked her head to the side.

_"What the heck is a Malukian?"_


	20. Confrontation Part Tres

**Author's Note: **Just a few more chapters, honest! Heh. Well, like usual, be sure to leave a comment. Perhaps you can tell me I'm making this story too damn long *laughs* I wouldn't accuse you of lying.

**CHAPTER 20**

_"…"_

There is no word in all the languages in the universe that could describe the severity of Pathie's shock.

_"I'm…so confused,"_ the blonde said, _"You…you sound so **weird."**_

Pathie did not respond. He merely stared at her with an open mouth and a slacked jaw as his arms hung lifelessly on his sides.

_"W-Why are you staring at me?"_ asked the blonde nervously.

No response.

One of the planet's inhabitants at one of the roadblocks called out to the girl: "Bubbles, what's going on? Why isn't he fighting?"

"I…I don't know," the girl called back, "The Rowdyruff said a lotta weird stuff to me. I don't understand much of it!" _And how can I even understand it at all!? I thought my power only worked with cute little animals!_

"Shall I order my men to shoot?"

"I…don't know."

"We'll await your command, Bubbles. My men tell me that your sister over here is recovering, so she'll be ok."

The blonde turned back to Pathie. Her uneasiness intensified when she realized that the scout's stare hadn't faltered through the brief conversation with the earthling.

_"What do you want from me?"_ she asked, her fragile emotions beginning to swell like a cancerous tumor, _"You've…you've scared me, so much! You hurt my family. You kidnapped me. You tied me all up. You tried to put a needle in me! Why!?"_

Pathie looked into those eyes. Those pretty, blue-sky eyes. He sensed the fear, the pain, the suffering that beckoned her firing squad to send him to his judgment day. Would it please her to see a peppered corpse? 

_I bear out my soul and still she thinks I'm a villain!_

Pathie snapped out of his stupor, as though he was splashed with a bucket of ice-cold gore. Guilt silenced his tongue but for a second, before his frustration nearly spewed out of his lips.

_"What-! How-! Why-!" _He exclaimed, cutting himself off at every second to avoid becoming the monster the girl thought him to be. The scout fell silent again, letting his emotions simmer. He went down to one knee and placed his "hands" at his forehead, contemplating how to handle the situation without suggesting hostility. The blonde watched the Malukian, her confusion growing, as well as her opinion on the scout's oddity.

At last, the scout rose from the ground again, standing confidently on his two legs, looking at the golden-haired girl with noble intent. _"Perhaps our misunderstanding can be resolved if we take the time to get to know each other," _he suggested in a solemn tone.

The blonde did not respond, the uncertainty of the scout's intents still screaming warnings in her battered mind.

_"My name is Pathie. Pathie Zimbogous. I work as a planet inspector back at home. But as you can see, I'm working for the military now. I was drafted. No doubt you know the reason why._

_"My residence used to be a random, rented condo in the cities. Now it's wherever the military sends me. So this planet is now my current home away from home as of this planet's last change of light."_

_"I have no living family members. I live alone. I am single. And I am also a vi- oh, god…"_

The scout turned his face from the blonde, hiding his blushing cheeks, hard to hide under albino skin. _It's college all over again, he thought with dread, __I could never talk decently to females before, and I still can't do it now! Bloody hell!_

_Well, I better try again. I won't get anywhere if I stay silent like this._

Pathie was about to turn around when the girl's voice froze him on the spot. _"Pathie…Zimbogous?"_

_"…yes…that is my name," _the scout replied, his stomach twisting in knots.

_"Oh."_

Silence fell on both of their tongues, for either one knew what to say next. Eternities passed them by until Pathie finally said, _"I believe I owe you a better apology."_

_"An apology?" _the blonde replied uneasily.

The scout slowly turned to face the girl again. He softly cleared his throat.

_"I'm not quite sure where to begin. There are so many things..."_

_"Well, saying sorry for trying to poke me with that horrible needle would be good!" _The blonde suddenly exclaimed, _"That…That…**thing you had was so huge! I thought you were going to kill me!" **_The last two words reached an exceptionally high pitch.

The accusation made Pathie forget about his social ineptness. _"I had no intention of killing you! I was only trying to sedate you, since **you had the intent to decapitate me with laser fire! Your hysteria didn't help things along, either!"**_

Instead of diving into hot debate, the blonde once again tilted her head. _"Huh? D…cap…id-tate? Can you go slower, please? My head hurts!"_

Pathie slapped his forehead, muttering curses underneath his breath. _"For crying out loud…it's the same problem every time. Aren't there **any** females with an appreciation for good vocabulary?"_

Unbeknownst to Pathie, the girl heard every word. _"Blossom might like those big words, but **you whacked her down the street with a pole, you big, fat, dumb, doo-doo brain!" She screeched, before falling silent and meek once more, as fearful of provoking **__him as he was of her._

Pathie silently cursed his rotten luck. _For Pete's sake, I must control myself! The scout thought, _It's___ bad enough that the girl's on an emotional teeter-totter! Ok…round three…this time, skip the small talk._

_"Young miss...why are you frightened of me?" _Pathie asked.

The girl glared at him. _"Like **you** don't know."___

_"I don't, actually. You were frightened of me before I knew you existed. You never gave me the benefit of a doubt. You screamed, shot at me, cowered in fear, and never stopped to simply **talk** to me, until now. I want to know the reason why."_

The blonde hesitated, her face twisting in a sea of confusion, until she responded with a question of her own. _"What kind of Rowdyruff ARE you?"_

Now it was Pathie's turn for confusion. _"Er…what's a Rowdyruff, if you don't mind me asking?"_

_"You're a Rowdyruff," _answered the blonde.

_"I am? Last time I checked, I was a Malukian."_

_"But what's a Malukian?"_

_"You and I."___

_"But…I'm a Powerpuff."_

_"What's a Powerpuff?"_

_"I am!"_

_"You look like a Malukian to me."_

_"We can't both be Malukians!"_

_"But we are, I assure you."_

_"I'm not a Malukian! I'm a POWERPUFF!" _the blonde shrieked.

_"I don't think there's a difference, young miss. We should move on to more important things," _Pathie said quickly, attempting to keep the girl's emotions in balance.

_"Hmph! Fine!__ But I still say you're a Rowdyruff, so there!"_ The girl stated, right before she stuck out her tongue at the scout.

_Well…she certainly is youthful, _the scout thought pleasantly, _I haven't had anyone stick their tongue at me since I was a child._

_"Ahem…well, young miss…would you be so kind as to tell me your name?"_

The girl was taken aback by this sudden nobility. _"My…my name's Bubbles."_

_Bubbles?__ That's a first, Pathie thought, _Her parents must've been serious hippies. That might explain a lot.__

_"Bubbles, it's not a mystery that you have no reason to trust me." _The scout stated.

_"…yeah…"_

_"How can I earn your trust, Bubbles? I am willing to do anything you ask. Anything. I will make no effort to resist."_

Pathie placed his hand upon his chest. _"Scout's Honor."___

Bubbles' eyes darted from sight to sight as she brainstormed the possible ideas. Finally, she settled on one such idea.

_"I know just the thing," _Bubbles said with a subtle grin.

_"What would th-AAAGH!"_

Pathie's inquiry was cut short by his own yelp of surprise, for Bubbles had grabbed him by the hand and blasted away into the sky, dragging the scout along most uncomfortably. Not wishing to cause any more hostility, Pathie had no choice but to go along for the ride and to do whatever the blonde could possibly have in mind.

But where the two are headed is anyone's guess.

**********

Buttercup's head throbbed like a techno beat as she pulled her bludgeoned body out of the grinded asphalt.

"Ugh…my aching head…"

The brunette looked down to the demolished road. The spot where she was slammed into the ground had an imprinted engravement of herself, like it was a footprint in mud.

"That albino really packs a wallop…hey, waitaminute! Where is that freak?!"

She snapped her view left and right and up and all around, fully expecting a dirty sneak-attack from the Rowdyruff. All she found, however, was a semi-demolished city street, abandoned save for the bewildered cops who were applying first aid to their wounded at the roadblocks. 

Buttercup figured that at least _one of the policemen would know what happened while she was unconscious. So she was about to approach (very speedily) one of the cops when a familiar, red-headed sibling emerged from the wall of police cars._

"Buttercup! Thank goodness you've alive!" Blossom exclaimed.

The brunette's recognition was instantaneous, and she immediately embraced her sister in a loving hug as she exclaimed the sibling's name in ectasy. However, she quickly pushed herself away, reasserting her tough exterior. "So, leader girl, what's going on? How come no one pulled me out of the crater in the road?"

"I'm really sorry, Buttercup, but I wanted to make sure the two policemen the Rowdyruff injured were doing ok. They got hurt pretty badly!"

"Yeah, I know. I saw. Poor guys," Buttercup said sympathetically. "Um…where's our sister? Why isn't she here? And on top of that, where the heck is that albino scumbag?!"

"Well…according to the policemen, our sister flew off with him," Blossom said solemnly, though with a hint of disbelief.

"What!?"

"They say that all they did was talk, and then flew off. Neither Bubbles of that Rowdyruff lifted a finger against each other! Well, not that they _have_ fingers, but still-."

"What a load of bull!" Buttercup exclaimed, "Bubbles gets a chance go mano-a-mano with the worst villain she's ever met and they _don't fight!?_ That Rowdyruff's gotta have some kind of mind control or something!"

"I doubt it, Buttercup," Blossom said, "If he had that kind of power he would've already used it against you and I. No, I think Bubbles might actually be handling this in her own special way."

"What's she going to do, act like a peacemaker? Pffh!"

"Well, she _can_ be very persuasive."

"But talking's never going to work with a Rowdyruff! They're rotten to the core! Bubbles is going to get killed, thinking she can reason with some monster like that!"

"To be honest, I have no idea what she may actually be doing, and I don't even know where she is. All I can say for certain is that she seems confident enough to handle the Rowdyruff herself. I don't like it either, but until we know where she is we have no choice but to let her fight solo. Besides, right now there's an even worse problem."

Buttercup scoffed again. "What? Give me a break! What can be worse then a Rowdyruff?"

"How about a rampaging killing machine?"

This struck Buttercup with quite the shock. "I'm listening."

"The cop's CB radios have been blaring non-stop about a floating metal octopus chasing a flying squirrel while demolishing everything in sight. Buttercup, not only has the Professor's robot gone berserk, it's also trying to kill Bullet!"

"Crud!" Buttercup cursed.

"We're the only ones who can handle this, Buttercup."

"But what about-?"

"As long as Bubbles keeps that Rowdyruff busy we only have to worry about the robot. I don't know about you, but fighting off a rampaging machine _and_ an evil Rowdyruff at once would be too much for even all three of us."

Buttercup grumbled. "Fine then, Blossom; but if anything happens to our sister I'm blaming you for it!"

Blossom did her best to suppress her retaliatory emotion. "If we listen to the cop's radios we can get an idea of where the robot is. Come on!"

The two superheroes flew together to one of the roadblocks, stopping short of the police car sporting Blossom's own engravement on the metal door. Blossom entered that car, turning up the speaker of its CB radio:

"kshsht…requesting immedia-kshst…pistols do jack-squat a-kshsht…it's now chasing a white sta-kshsht…now pursuing on North Main str-kshsht…Oh, shit, it's going to- AAAAAH!"

Like an exclamation mark, the sound of a car being crushed like paper shocked the radio into silence.

Blossom and Buttercup wasted no further time. They abandoned their former battleground to fight with a new enemy, the cry of the unlucky officer still ringing in their minds.

**********

Professor Utonium found himself in the iron clutch of cruel irony.

How else could it be described, when a machine created to hunt turns its own skills on the creator?

He drove his white station wagon more manically then ever down the streets of a city in apocalypse, barely staying out of reach of the robot's massive tentacles. Robin, the little girl riding shotgun, closed her eyes tightly and shook with fear, holding on to an unconscious squirrel like a child's comfort object. And as for the reporters…well, despite that their demise was nearly certain they did not want to lose their jobs anyway. Billy recorded footage of the monstrosity behind the false safety of the rear windshield as Boris attempted to provide some commentary.

"As can plainly be seen, this latest threat to Townsville is quite a force to be reckoned with. Damn! Look what it did to that police car! That vehicle was crushed like a tin can!"

"Boris, you're _not _helping!" Billy wailed.

"Keep quiet! I'm _trying_ to enhance the footage."

"All you're doing is making me wet my pants!"

"Will you two SHUT UP?! I can barely focus on the road!" The professor snapped.

The poor kindergartener began to whimper in her seat, wishing she could escape from this newfound hell. None of the adults took notice, however. Things both trivial and important clouded any observance of her.

Before Boris had a chance to lecture Professor Utonium on the importance of their jobs, the reporter caught a most dismaying sight.

"Oh, shit! That thing's going to impale us like a shish-kabob!"

Indeed. The robot had torn a traffic pole from the road and was holding the said object like a throwing dart, eyeing the fleeing station wagon for the perfect shot.

"Turn the corner, dammit! We have to get out of the line of fire!" Billy wailed.

"I can't! If we slow down to turn, the robot will catch up to us and we'll be done for!" The professor exclaimed.

"Can't you slow it down with one of your gizmos or something?"

"For Pete's sake! I'm a scientist, not Inspector Gadget!"

"Oh, that's just peachy!"

"It's reaching back!" Boris yelled, "Here it comes!"

The robot threw the traffic pole with ease, sending it rocketing through the air. The occupants of the car screamed as the pole punched completely through the front and rear windshields in the dead center, shattering glass to thousands of sharp pieces. The professor lost control of the car as the pole exited, causing the car to skid wildly until the front nose smashed into an abandoned Lamborghini and halted.

Satisfied that its prey was incapacitated, the hunter slowly approached the lifeless car, hovering like a demonic apparition as its tentacles waved hypnotically.


	21. The Insanity Has To Stop!

Author's Note: Getting close to home plate….It should be noted that I began to write this story before the premiere of "The Boys Are Back In Town." So, for those who may scrutinize some of the plot because of those new eps, keep in mind that this is set after the first appearance of the Rowdyruffs but not after the second appearance in the newer eps.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled chapter. :)

****

**_CHAPTER 21_**

Oh, dear god…so much…pink…

Pathie Zimbogous was on the brink of tossing the full extent of his rations. The blonde girl – whose name, he found out, was of the stoned-hippie variety – had dragged him all the way back to her "home," which now had a gaping hole through its core the size of Texas. That wasn't what induced his stomach trouble, however; this task was executed by the survivors' bedroom, a spacious quarter saturated in a feminine palette that would cause most grown men to run in unspeakable horror.

_Why couldn't THIS room sustain damage? Why?! WHY?! _the scout had thought nearly hysterically. Outside his mind, however, his body attempted to stay cool under the threats to his masculinity.

As he fought this internal battle, his eyes focused on the girl, Bubbles, as she was digging out numerous toys that were packed in a nearby closet. Every doll, plush, and miniature piece of furniture the blonde laid her hands on launched over her shoulder and crash-landed into an increasing pile of cotton and plastic.

_Hmm…I must've gained a some trust, seeing that she did not bother to tie me to a chair, _Pathie thought, _But__ what could she possibly have in mind for me? _

The next few moments proved to be a convenient answer. In a sudden burst of energy, Bubbles grabbed hold of Pathie and plopped him into a miniature chair. She grabbed a dozen or so dolls, placed those dolls onto miniature bleachers to the scout's left, and set up a podium (with a purple octopus plush on top) to Pathie's right. The rest of the dolls and plush were placed on the floor in front of the scout, as though they were a tiny crowd gathered for an important event.

Pathie watched the girl intently as she approached the back of the podium. Opening a small compartment, a peculiar hammer materialized into her right hand. She gripped one of the octopus' tentacles with that same hand. Then, she suddenly bellowed a proclamation, her voice suddenly raspy to impersonate a senior:

_"The court is now in session!"_

The hammer slammed into the podium, emitting an ironic squeak.

_This…is different, _Pathie thought.

**************

**  
**"Ugh…I think I died…all I see is blue…"

Billy the cameraman laid face-up on the pavement, his mind phasing in and out of consciousness.

"It would be nice to have something to squeeze…ah…"

His hands floated aimlessly around, making a futile attempt to sate his squeezing fetish.

"There is nothing to squeeze…maybe I'm in hell…"

"I'm going to send you to hell in five seconds if you don't snap out of it!"

If the sudden exclamation of Boris' voice did not snap the cameraman out of his stupor, the slapping of his cheek, accompanied by the violent shaking of his shoulders, certainly accomplished this feat. He yelped in shock, grabbing the hands that stirred his uncomfortable wake-up call.

"Boris, stop! I'm up, I'm up!" Billy wailed.

The fellow reporter ceased his actions. "It's about damn time! We barely survive a car crash, got our butts rescued from being squashed like a pancake, and now, when one of the most intense battles since Stalingrad is unfolding before us, NOW you decide to lay back on the job!"

Boris heaved a scarred news camera into Billy's arms. "Get that tape rolling before we miss our chance!"

The immediacy of the situation overloaded Billy's brain. "What? We were almost squashed? Where are the others? What battle?!" he sputtered, as he rushed to set up the camera while rising to stand with Boris.

Boris' answers shot out like bullets from a machinegun. "Yes, we were almost squashed, the girl and the prof and the squirrel are lying unconscious behind me, and the battle is RIGHT BEHIND YOU, you idiot!"

Billy unwittingly turned around to confirm this. Upon seeing the tentacle machination, which was whipping frantically at pink and green streaks of energy, tearing everything in sight in the process, the cameraman underwent a sudden surge of incontinence.

"Holy SHIT!" Billy cried, as both of his lower orifices soiled his tightie-whities.

**********

_"I have already explained myself, Bubbles!"_

_"I'm not Bubbles, I'm Hippy the Rainbow Hippo, her la…la…those guys who point fingers at people and stuff! I'm cro…cro…cross-eggzamening! Now answer the question!"_

_"Groan…"_

**********

"Buttercup, fall back! We have to draw it away from the city!"

Blossom's tomboyish sister, while normally rebellious of command, chose to follow orders this time around. The two superheroines flew backwards over the path of the avenue, firing intense, powerful beams of Chemical X from their eyes at the metal monstrosity as they did so. Though the machine's absorption of the energy rendered the attack useless, the true purpose of the beams was to act as bait. Tantalized by new sources of Chemical X, the robot immediately gave chase to the girls.

Their strategy working thus far, the girls broke off the path of the avenue and flew at high speed towards the direction of the expansive ocean. The machination easily matched that speed and stayed close to the girls like a moth to a light bulb, its tentacles just out of reach of them.

"Did you just hear someone curse? What a potty mouth!" Blossom yelled over the howling turbulence of the sisters' velocity.

"Forget that! What about the robot?! It's on us like flies on crap!" Buttercup yelled back.

"We have to destroy the robot's core. That's where the power source and the AI are most likely stored," Blossom shouted, "But it won't be easy! Since our eye beams won't work we have to use melee combat!"

"Oh, yeah, we'll get right to the core just as soon as we tear off the zillion tentacles that grow back like a Chia pet!" Buttercup yelled sarcastically.

Blossom, Buttercup, and the tentacle monstrosity were now miles away from the coastline, the deep blue of the sea stretching panoramically to the horizon.

"And I suppose you have a better idea?" Blossom rebutted.

"You betcha! Watch this!"

In mid-flight, the brunette turned her body like a globe, rotating until she was flying completely backwards, her velocity still matching her sister's. She held out one arm, pointing directly to the core of the robot pursuing them.

"Why pummel it when I can go straight through it like a bullet? This'll take it down in one blow!" 

"Buttercup, wait!" Blossom tried to say, but it was too late. Defying laws of physics, the tomboy's velocity instantly about-faced. She screamed through the air for but a moment, expecting to land a decisive blow to the machine. However, instead of being a bullet to glass, Buttercup became the fly on the windshield. She pancaked against the metallic surface of the robot, the outline of her body engraved into it. Only the saving grace of her body's supernatural resilience prevented a gruesome end.

The robot halted in mid-air, its senses detecting a golden opportunity. It tentacles lunged into itself, intending to tear at the brunette for her Chemical X.

Blossom screamed her sister's name as she dove into the mass of tentacles, prying her sister out of harm's way before the clanging of metal rang in the air.

**********

_"So," _Hippy questioned, _"You say you're from a distant planet?"_

_"Yes, Hippy,"_ Pathie answered from the chair. He had long given up trying to talk directly to the puppeteer. _"And as far as I know, Bubbles and her companions should be from the very same place. But you tell me that she was born HERE, on this remote rock."_

_"Uh…yeah,"_ Hippy replied.

_"How is that even possible? All the reports back home indicate that **I **should be the first of my kind to see this planet. I personally think she and her companions are actually refugees who slipped past the system, trying to hide from the horrific truth. But why are we talking about this? I thought I was on trial for hurting the girl."_

_"Well…um…" _The hippo searched desperately for a good answer. _"It's all really confusing to her!" _she blurted out.

_"I think we're going around the real problem, Hippy," _Pathie said in an ominous tone, _"What are you looking for, Hippy? Do you want to know everything that I've done wrong with my life, Hippy? Is that it? You want to hear all of the sins I have committed?"_

The hippo suddenly dropped out of sight when the puppeteer asked, _"What's a sin?"_

The scout ground his teeth intensely before exclaiming to Bubbles: _"What is the point of this trial?! You already know what happened. I've tried countless times to apologize to you. I offered full cooperation with whatever punishment you would concoct. I've even tried to go along with your lies! What more do you **want**?!"_

Bubbles stared at Pathie, her feminine face riddled with bewilderment. The rainbow hippo fell down from her hands to the floor. Her emotion began to build up inside of her, glazing her eyes like a puppy's and slightly wobbling her lip.

_Oh, no…_Pathie thought, _she's going to-!_

A wail and a flood of guilt paralyzed his mind, as Bubbles fell to her knees and proceeded to cry her heart out.

_"WAAAAH!"_Bubbles sobbed, as she cried to the ceiling with each wail and then buried her face in her hands with each whimper, _"Why are you so MEAN! I just wanted to be FAIR! WAAAAH!"_

_Bloody hell, _Pathie cursed in his mind, _I've done it again!_

Pathie immediately pushed himself out of the chair he was sitting in. He promptly kneeled down in front of the crying girl, trying to find a way to console her.

_"Please, Bubbles, don't cry," _Pathie said in as soothing a voice as possible, _"It pains me to see you cry."_

Bubbles seemed to ignore his words, for she continued to sob in defiance of him. The action latched a heavy weight onto Pathie's heart.

_"I understand what trials are for,_" the scout said, attempting to use reason, _"But I am already guilty. I should be punished."_

_"But…But…" _Bubbles choked, looking at Pathie with teary, blue eyes.

_"But what?"___

_"You're…so nice…"_

_"You said I was mean a few minutes ago."_

_"You're that too…It's so hard to understand!"_

Bubbles buried her face once more, as her words perplexed the scout to no end.

_"I…I can't seem to decide anymore,"_ Pathie uttered, _"There are times, I admit, when I want to spit in the faces of girls. But other times…other times…"_

The scout fell silent, unable to find the words that deciphered his elusive emotions. The absence of sound that followed tore at their souls. Bubbles' sobs quieted down as she looked up again into the scout's gray eyes.

_"Bubbles…I want to ask a favor of you,"_ Pathie finally spoke, his tone uneasy.

_"A…favor?"_Bubbles' voice was equally uneasy.

_"Before you carry out your punishment, before I go back to my home and cure the pandemic and never get the chance to see you again…I want to embrace you."_

_"…Embrace me?"_

_"I want to hold you in my arms. I want to smell the scent of your golden hair. I want to feel the warmth of your breath and the softness of your flesh. If I can enjoy your beauty just once, I will not die a miserable malukian."_

An epiphany charged into Bubbles' mind. It scattered her thoughts like a scrambled word puzzle, unable to make sense of it all. The albino who had inflicted so much pain had just confessed feelings of love. But only adults express such emotion. Pathie did not look like an adult. He is supposed to be a boy, and boys are supposed to HATE girls. They are supposed to be gross and they are supposed to be afraid of catching cooties. Surely, he was trying to pull a prank! But his face was solemn. There was no trace of a hidden, childish snicker.

He **wanted** her.

_"Please?" _Pathie asked desperately.

Once the confusion was out of her mind, Bubbles rose to her feet, looked at the scout square in the eyes, and stated what she managed to deduct from it all:

_"You're crazy! Why'd you want to do that? You'd go boom!"_

_"What!?"_ Pathie exclaimed, rising to his feet as well, _"What do you mean, I'd 'go boom?' We're talking about physical embracing, not pyrotechnics!"_

_"But Rowdyruffs go boom when girls kiss them!" _Bubbles pointed out, using her arms to emphasize the explosion.

_"Again with the bleedin Rowdyruffs!"_ Pathie exclaimed, whose annoyance of the "R" word rose up to his gray eyeballs, _"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: WE ARE MALUKIANS. Not powerpuffs, not rowdyruffs, or any kind of "uff" in existence, MAL, U, KI, ANS! There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that I would explode by the mere touch of your lips, otherwise our race would already have a serious population shortage BEFORE the pandemic was ever a blip on the radar!"_

Bubbles cocked her head. _"Huh?"_

The scout slapped his forehead. _Jeez, _he thought, _I never met someone so clueless! If I never saw her face-to-face I'd think she was a child!_

_"Look, I know you're still trying to recover from the pain you've experienced, but the insanity has got to stop!" _Pathie pleaded, _"You still have so much you could do to live a good life in spite of these troubles, but it'll never happen if you don't face facts!"_

Bubbles slightly backed away nervously. _"B-b-but I'm not running away from anything!"_

_"Yes, you are, and I'll prove it!"_

The scout stretched his arms out to the sides, as though he was being crucified. _"I've hurt you, haven't I? I've caused you pain, haven't I? I've made you cry like a pathetic animal, bound you like a pathetic animal, tried to sedate you like a pathetic animal, and even nearly used you like a pathetic animal! I am the abomination to our species; I am the living avatar of the disease! To take my life would be justifiable on any conceivable moral scale! Why not carry out my execution with your kiss of death?!"_

Bubbles' legs began to shake as the stress began to overwhelm her. _"I…I don't know!"_

_"Do it, Bubbles. Set yourself-." _Pathie suddenly cut himself off. A tense moment of silence filled the air, as his ears began to receive a disturbing sound…

_'W-w-what are you doing?"_ Bubbles stammered, seeing the disturbed look on the scout's face, _"What are you-?"_

Suddenly, Bubbles picked up that sound. It was faint, weak, as though from a huge distance, but she recognized it all too well…It was the sound of pain and agony, mixed with cries for help. Cries for **HER.******

"BLOSSOM! BUTTERCUP! NO!"

Fueled by the most terrible of fears, Bubbles crashed through the bedroom windows of her broken home, flying off into the distance has her heart pounded madly, struggling to keep up with the adrenaline that surged through her.

_"Bubbles, wait!"_ Pathie tried to say, but by the times the words came out the girl was already out of sight.

_"Goddammit!__ I was so close! I was actually getting somewhere!" _The scout cursed, as he furiously punched a hole in the pink wall.

_"Hmph.__ By the looks of it, you were going nowhere."_

_"You again," _Pathie spoke, though there was no one in the room but himself, _"Haven't you tortured me enough?"_

_"You know you have problems when the truth is worse than fiction."_

_"I can't make anything out of it. She's an enigma to me."_

_"Most likely she feels the same way about you."_

_"There's nothing I can do! She's sealed off everything in an impenetrable shell. I can't get through to her."_

_"Perhaps not, but you haven't tried everything. You've been using just words so far. What about actions?"_

_"My actions have already done plenty. No thanks."_

_"Ah, but what about what is going on right now? You recognized the voices. You knew she would be distressed by the sound. And you probably also know what's awaiting her. Why should you give up on her and let her suffer the way her companions are suffering now?"_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"Instead of begging for punishment, you should try HELPING her."_

Silence.

_"Yes…I could help her…protect her…be her guardian," _Pathie said, _"If she feels safe around me…she'd be willing to stay by my side…"_

_"It's settled then. You better get going."_

_"Yes, I'd better."_

Following Bubbles' lead, the scout flew out of the house and into the awaiting sky, listening to the cries of the desperate voices.

_I shall make it up to you, Bubbles. I shall protect you with my life._


	22. Death Incarnate and Lust

**Author's Note: ** In the spirit of the giving season, I did some overtime work to get this chapter (though somewhat shorter than the norm) ready within the same month that I posted the previous one. I tried my best not to rush the work,  but be as honest with your criticism as you always are.

**Second Note: **For some reason the website's preview feature shows no sign of italic formatting in this document. I do not know how to remedy this if the final upload appears as such, so you'll have to pretend that characters are actually thinking and that Pathie isn't REALLY speaking English. Sigh…

**CHAPTER 22**

Blossom and Buttercup faced the maw of defeat. Their mechanical adversary was sapping their endurance with each passing moment of the battle. When the tentacles weren't clawing at the girls, tearing holes in their outfits, they were whipping the superheroines with cruel abandon. The girls' flesh lost its childish beauty as blood, bruises, and lacerations ravaged the skin.

When the fight first began, it seemed that Blossom and Buttercup stood a chance at overcoming the machine. Now they merely delayed the inevitable. The robot will pummel them into submission, sap their bodies of Chemical X, and discard the lifeless remains in the ocean, eager for more prey.

"Buttercup, I can't take much more of this!" Blossom yelled, as she barely evaded one attack only to be walloped by another, "Everything hurts! If we stay out here in the ocean we're done for!"

"But what about the city!?" Buttercup yelled back, her voice quivering from her gigantic bruise, "We can't go back there!"

"We must! We need time to recover and come up with a different approach!"

"But-!"

"No buts! This is do or die!"

Blossom, who knew Buttercup would want to fight to the bitter end, immediately grabbled the brunette and rocketed away from the robot with her sister in tow. Buttercup, whose skin now felt every ounce of pressure like barbed wire, at once screamed in protest and pain. As always, the tentacled machine gave hot pursuit, its dedication a testament to its lack of soul.

"No! We gotta fight it!" Buttercup yelled, "It'll tear up Townsville like paper! BLOSSOM!"

Back towards the land did they race, their telltale trails of light stretching behind them, tantalizing the robot like a sensual aroma. Thanks to the girls' speed, they were soon back within the concrete canyons of the city, scarred by the marks of destruction. By now, the streets were empty of stampeding humans, but there were still a few familiar stragglers the two superheroines made sure to avoid.

Blossom, her grip tight on the brunette, searched desperately for a way to throw the robot off their tracks. She attempted a maze of backalleys; the robot plowed through the brick like paper, apparently not willing to fall for the same strategy twice. She tried the narrow tunnels of the sewers; the robot proved versatile, crashing through the entryways and squeezing through the halls of filth like soap in a wet hand. In a state of panic, she even tried to find sanctuary in the interior of a skyscraper; the robot's indiscriminate destruction brought the tower down in the same manner as Jenga blocks, forcing the redhead to escape back into the open to avoid the fatal strike of crushing metal.

Blossom flew along the avenues, the anxiety of no escape scrambling her mind. Buttercup cried to be set free in order to topple the mechanical monstrosity once and for all, but Blossom ignored her. Survival was all that mattered now. She would sooner have killed herself than toss Buttercup into a death-trap. 

The redhead's desperation forced a hysterical cry for help: "Bubbles! Help! Please! We're dying!"

Blossom could not think of any other choice. Anyone else would've been instantly squashed like an ant by the sheer ferocity of the machine pursuing her. But was she even the best choice? Wouldn't Bubbles end up as helpless as Blossom and Buttercup? Could SHE handle the pressure of saving her sisters' lives? But there was no time to question these things, for Death was knocking on the door and would soon barge in to do his job.

Buttercup hated the notion of being totally helpless. "We're NOT dying! Just let me FIGHT!"

The brunette violently struggled to break free of her sister's grip. Blossom responded by tightening her clutch even further. Their opposing views prompted an internal struggle, distracting them from the real problem threatening both their lives. And like all internal struggles, it proved to be their undoing.

The metallic predator, sensing opportunity, burst forward with a boost of speed, bringing the girls within range.  Like an avalanche of steel the tentacles slammed down upon Blossom and Buttercup, pinning them helplessly to the asphalt. It wrapped the two girls in its icy, suffocating grasp and set forth to bang them sadistically against every solid object in sight. The screams were blood-curdling, echoing to the farthest reaches, as though it originated from the eternal nightmare of hell.

And then, silence.

The robot once again pinned the girls down upon the pavement. No struggle emerged.

_**************_

"NOOOOOOO!"

Taking the robot completely by surprise, a blue fury erupted from the sky, rippling with supernatural strength. A large, steel girder emerged from this fury, whacking the perplexed machine into the sky like a golf ball.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTERS, YOU MONSTER!"

The fury revealed itself to be Bubbles, the blonde who rushed to her sisters' aide. The emotion that exploded from the sight of her pulverized siblings elicited the "hardcore" aspects of her personality, transforming the typically sweet girl into Death Incarnate. The girder became her scythe – or rather, her baseball bat – as she violently reaped whatever traces of "life" the machine barely possessed. Left to right the machine bounced in the air, the tentacles flailing wildly as its programming failed to comprehend the severity of the new threat. Its trajectory soon passed into the open expanses of the ocean, where, at the total mercy of the blonde, the robot received the finishing blow:

An underhand swing rocketed the robot straight into the air. Bubbles flew upwards past the hurtling projectile of steel and swung the girder high over her head. When the robot reached the point of weightlessness, the girl brought down the girder with the full brunt of her superhuman strength, sending the robot plummeting to the ocean blue well past terminal velocity. It cannonballed into the water, evoking a gigantic splash that reached high into the salty air.

"And don't come back!" Bubbles proclaimed, as she threw the girder into the chaotic swirl of white and blue, watching it disappear along with the splash itself.

Floating in the sky, the blonde watched the now-calm surface of the ocean, waiting to see that the threat was neutralized. Satisfied with her work, she at once flew back to the siblings lying sprawled and motionless upon the pavement. The Reaper subsided as the sweet little girl saw the severity of the wounds up close…and realized she had no idea what to do.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no…." Bubbles said in panic, her worst fears materializing before her. "Girls? Blossom? Buttercup? Please, say something…I don't know what to do…."

Nothing.

"Please…don't…"

Nothing.

"DON'T DIE ON ME!"

The cathartic cry boomed in the air, shattering whatever hope of peace had been left in the town.

And still, nothing.

_*************_

 "Bubbles? Bubbles! Where are you?"

Pathie, who had been searching aimlessly until Bubble's cry had echoed in the air, flew cautiously over the Pokey Oaks suburbia towards the city in ruins. Like when he first emerged from his ship, the human habitats showed as much life as a ghost town. They were most likely hiding…or dead…with all the chaos one cannot be certain.

"Bubbles! Please answer me!"

Entering the city, he saw that a force more violent than he had already ravaged much of the area. Gashes pried open mortar, brick, and steel, craters pocked the asphalt, and glass from shattered windows created fields of unforgiving blades. Some buildings had even been toppled entirely, leaving saddening piles of scrap that once held comfortable offices.

"So much destruction…but where is all the life? Hell, where is the girl?! She might be dead for all I know!"

Distressed by a fruitless search, Pathie turned to the help of the MPSD attached to his arm. "Computer, remember the three sources of estroxilium-46 that you detected when you first scanned this particular area?"

"Yes, Pathie, their unique signatures are in my databanks," The small, floppy device chimed.

"Scan for those exact same sources as fast as you possibly can. Bubbles' life depends on it!"

The disc at once emitted three long, whiny beeps. "Error. Action cannot be executed."

"What?! Why not?!"

"Records show that primary objective is complete. Scout unit 'Pathie Zimbogous' should now focus on returning home to cure infected Malukians of the pandemic outbreak."

"I don't have time for this! There are survivors stranded on this rock, computer! I am not going to leave them here to suffer, especially Bubbles!"

"It is more important that the population receives their cure before the pandemic outbreak leads to extinction."

"Ok then…let me put it this way, computer. If I head back now, and it turns out that the female population has died off completely, having the cure would be pointless because we'd lose our ability to continue the species, right?"

"That is correct."

"But here on this god-forsaken rock are three unique females. For some reason, estroxilium-46 flows through their veins like it was their blood. Perhaps they OD'd in fear of the pandemic, but now…they are perfect females, computer. No pandemic will ever harm them. They will never lose their defenses, nor will they ever lose their beauty…even in old age they will look like youthful goddesses. And if these traits become genetic…the Malukians of future generations would never have to worry about another outbreak again.

Hell, even if everyone back home dies, the race can still live on without fear, because then it'll be up to me to-."

Pathie froze. My god, what am I saying?!

"I understand now," The MPSD chimed, the words cold and mechanical. "It would appear that you are willing to sacrifice all Malukians in order to sate your lust."

"No, that's not what I-!"

"Though I am not programmed to perform the tasks of a therapist, it is safe to say that you are significantly deprived."

"I am NOT depr-!"

"Your actions are extreme. The severity of it would warrant a court-martial back home. However, due to the circumstances I have no other choice but to fulfill your demands. Perhaps if you find your meat puppet quickly enough the inevitable loss of life due to delays will be minimal."

"But…I did not mean…"

"Three sources of Estroxilium-46 have been detected five miles to the west. Try not to lose yourself when you carry out your fantasy."

Pathie's heart sank to the deepest depths of depression. Defeated by the MPSD, he flew off towards the girls –or rather, Bubbles- in silence.

Maybe it is only sex that pushes me…I will have to remedy that…

************__

\\SLEEP...

\\SLEEP..

PRESENT-THR = False

+set SLEEPM: 0

\\HUNTER SEEKER ONLINE

\\ENTER COMMAND:

run scan.dll

\\scanning........................

\\ACTIVETHR = 2

\\WARNING- ANOMALY THREATS

+set ATTACKPWR: 13

run huntseek.exe

\\SEEK AND DESTROY: MAXIMUM FORCE


	23. It Pains Me To See You Cry

Author's Note: If the italics don't work this time, a lot of this chapter will be very confusing. Sorry. Just remember: PATHIE DOESN'T SPEAK ENGLISH!

Oy…if anyone knows how to keep the formatting when uploading an html file that was converted from a MSWord document, please tell me. It is driving me insane.

**CHAPTER 23**

In the realm of the subconscious, Blossom and Buttercup ran.

Why why wont you stay

They ran towards a flickering flame, surrounded by voices.

There you are are you all right

No no theyre dead my sisters are dead

They could see the silhouette of the Reaper blowing steadily on the flame.

It's all your fault why did you come here I hate you I hate you

Please calm down if you let me I can help them

How can help them they're dead

He was trying to extinguish the pitiful fire, so close it was to its demise.

I just checked them their hearts have stopped but only recently its not too late Ill revive them with shock plates

No no why do you hurt them even more leave them alone

Listen to me if you dont let me help you then theyll stay dead I wont let that come to pass as long as I am here

Blossom and Buttercup ran to stop the Reaper. They could not fly.

Cover their wounds before they lose too much blood ill charge up the plates

I dont have anything

Use your dress

But theres so much id have to use all of it and id be in my undies

My device can make new clothes now hurry

What about your clothes

Theyre soaked in blood and sweat we need dry cloth and this device wouldnt make enough in time

Dont look

I promise

The wind of Death increased to gusts. The flame held on, clinging to distant hope.

Okay the plates are charged are they bandaged

Yes but I had to use my undies too

You what holy crap here take this particle it will make new clothes but it will take some time it grows on you like a plant

Dont look

Im not really ok time for action 3…2…1…clear

The flame burst into an enormous tower of fire. Blossom and Buttercup stopped and watched as the Reaper was incinerated, his dark yet flaming form now spiraling into the abyss.

Clear

The tower transformed into a magnificent beam of light.

Is it working

I think so I'm starting to get a pulse from both maybe just one more…clear

The beam of light exploded, enveloping Blossom and Buttercup in luminescence. It morphed into a kaleidoscope of colors until it settled for blue with a dot of white.

They were alive.

_**********_

//ACTIVE THREAT =4

//EXERCISE STEALTH

_**********_

Whew…that was close.

Pathie Zimbogous, kneeling down between the two Malukian women lying unconscious on the battered pavement of the city street, removed the two makeshift shock plates from their chests. The items merged back into his MPSD like a child's clay. The scout wiped sweat from his brow, the heat of the afternoon sun rolling upon him, as he rose to his feet.

"Are they going to be ok now? Are they? Are they?" Bubbles asked frantically, her anxiety pushing her to get right into Pathie's face.

The scout blushed intensely. Because Bubbles had sacrificed all her clothes –save for the dainty black shoes she wore- in order to cease the small rivers of blood flowing from the flesh of her sisters, she was naked except for the black thong bikini the fabric particle had produced thus far. Eventually, her new, skin-tight clothing would cover everything from neck to foot. In the meantime, however, Pathie would be treated to a healthy dosage of naked flesh. It certainly didn't help his resolve to think less perversely.

"Um…well, I got a heartbeat back into them and you did a good job of bandaging them, so they should be ok now. They just need time to heal," The scout said, as he fought a futile battle to avoid staring through the skimpy fabric.

"You mean…they're alive?!" Bubbles asked ecstatically.

"Er…yes."

"Yay!"

Bubbles reacted to the good news with a very cutesy squeal of glee. Her explosion of Joy was so great that she couldn't help but wrap her arms around Pathie in a humongous hug. This sudden embrace felt more like a glomping than a hug to the scout, but he knew better than to act on a possible misconception. All he could do was pray that the blonde wouldn't notice the growing banana in his pocket and return the hug as social etiquette dictated.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Pathie!" The blonde girl said.

"You don't have to thank me," Pathie said nervously, crossing his legs, "I suppose we should take them to the house now?"

"Oh yeah!" Bubbles said, now releasing the hug as she pushed herself away, a slight color of pink in her cheeks.

Well, I guess she REALLY trusts me now, Pathie thought, who breathed a sigh of relief as he uncrossed his legs, I haven't been hugged like that since…ever. And she's awfully comfortable in that- dammit! Focus, Pathie, Focus! Great…that's not going away for awhile…

Bubbles, her blonde hair shining in the sun, kneeled down next to the brunette. She lifted her battered sister carefully over her shoulder, holding in spots where the damage was minimal.

"Can you carry Blossom for me please?" Bubbles asked Pathie.

"You mean the redhead?" Pathie asked in return.

"Yeah."

"Ok. I can do that."

Pathie walked over to Blossom, noting the chipped hair-clip and the torn hair bow that barely kept together the girl's hair. He kneeled down and picked her up by the legs and waist, holding her unconscious body with the gentlest of care.

Sigh…if only I could carry HER like this…

"Um…are you ok? Pathie? Pathie?"

"Huh?"

"You were daydreaming."

"Oh. Sorry about that. Well, I guess we should get going before- AAAACK!"

While Pathie was holding Blossom in his arms, neither he or the blonde had noticed that the redhead had regained consciousness. When her eyes slowly opened to reveal her mortal enemy holding her like a trophy, the leader's gut instinct screamed "attack!" Not one to disappoint, Blossom fulfilled this instinct by rocketing her hands to the base of Pathie's neck and squeezing as though the albino's head was a gigantic pimple that had to be obliterated in the name of good hygiene. This action knocked Pathie off his feet, sending his back crashing into the ground. It didn't help the situation much, for Blossom gained and took the golden opportunity to knee his stomach like a jackhammer and bang his head repeatedly against the pavement.

"What…have…you…done…with…Bubbles…you…fiend!" She growled, underlining her words with each headbang as Pathie cried out in protest- at least, as much as he could, considering that he was being choked to death.

Bubbles, at first, stood petrified, for the sudden reanimation of the half-dead redhead was like watching a zombie tunnel out of its grave. The cutesy blonde soon regained her senses, however. Forgetting that she held her other, equally battered sister on her shoulder, Bubbles dropped all excess weight to the asphalt and cried, "Blossom! STO-O-O-P!"

Blossom, not loosening her death-grip or breaking eye contact with Pathie, proclaimed: "Bubbles? You're ok! I'd hug you, but right now I got my hands full. I got the rowdyruff right where we want him!"

"Help!" Pathie cried weakly, growing faint from the lack of oxygen.

"No Blossom! Don't hurt him!" Bubbles squealed, rushing over to the redhead to pry her off the albino.

"What?! Are you crazy? This guy nearly killed us!" Blossom rebutted, glaring at Pathie with eyes of impending doom.

Bubbles began to pull at Blossom's long, damaged, reddish hair, inflicting serious pain. "If it wasn't for him you'd be dead, you big, fat, dumb, DOO-DOO BRAIN!"

"Ow! Ahhh! Stop it, Bubbles!" Blossom yelled, who released her grip on Pathie as she was dragged away from the scout. Pathie struggled back to his feet, but kept his distance as he breathed deeply into his lungs.

"Bubbles, what are you- GAH!"

Blossom, knocking Bubbles' hands out of her hair and rising to her feet, had turned around to give Bubbles a piece of her mind. However, her heart skipped a beat and her jaw dropped like a coyote with an anvil parachute when she saw the blonde dressed like a Playboy centerfold.

"Bubbles, what happened to you!? Why are you wearing THAT!?" Blossom cried.

"What's wrong with you two? Why are you speaking gibberish?" Pathie asked.

"And what the heck did he just say? It sounds like gibberish!" Blossom exclaimed, "Oh, shoot! HE'S LOOSE!"

"I got him!" A fourth voice proclaimed.

Just then, the scout yelped once again in pain. As if the sudden confusion and chaos wasn't enough, Buttercup the ferocious tomboy had emerged from her coma as well. Déjà vu occurred, with a slight twist. Instead of a simple chokehold, the brunette slammed the scout face-down in the pavement and sat on his back while grabbing hold of his legs and pulling them over her shoulders, effectively pinning the scout while bending his back like a pipe cleaner. The resulting pain could only be endured by the most skillful of yoga enthusiasts. Pathie wasn't one of them.

"Ya think you could take us out after that robot cleaned our clocks? Huh? Do ya? DO YA!? Ya thought wrong, buster! Now you're gonna get it!" Buttercup said angrily as Pathie's back began to pop.

For crying out loud! AAGH! Pathie thought.

"Buttercup! You're ok, t-! Robot?! I almost forgot! Bubbles, what happened with the robot?! Did you take it out? How did you do it?" Blossom said frenetically.

"Someone get this crazy woman off me!" Pathie yelled in-between moans of pain.

"Shut up, freak!" Buttercup yelled back, though she had no idea what Pathie just said.

Bubbles, who gasped at the sight of Buttercup's brutality, knocked Blossom to the side and ran up to the brunette, screaming "Stop! Stop! STO-O-O-OP!" The redhead, caught off-guard by the push, fell painfully on her bottom upon the pavement. She stared wide-eyed at the hysterical blonde, thoughts of madness seeping in.

Buttercup turned her head, not releasing her hold, to look at Bubbles. The resulting expression matched Blossom's earlier shock, right down to the length of the dropped jaw.

"Bubbles, what the heck are you wearing?! Did this freak steal your clothes or something?! The professor'll kill you if he saw you wearing THAT!"

Bubbles wailed in dismay. "Please, Buttercup, let go of him! Don't hurt him! Please!"

"You're crazy, Bubbles! He'll wallop us the first chance he gets!" Buttercup rebutted.

Blossom floated over to her sisters, saying "Buttercup's right. We have no reason to let him go. He already made it clear he wants to hurt us!"

"Bubbles! She's breaking my back!" Pathie cried.

"Bubbles, what's wrong with you? Why are you just standing there?" Blossom asked.

"Bubbles?"

"Bubbles!"

"BUBBLES!"

The blonde, overwhelmed by the questions, the prejudice, the pain, the suffering, the confusion, the emotions, and just about everything else, let out a long, ear-ringing scream of frustration, her nerves on the brink of snapping in twain. The sheer magnitude of the cry not only cracked every window in sight but also stole the voices of her sisters away. It died out into a wail of sadness as the poor, pigtailed girl began to sob. Her fabric grew slightly during this scene of sadness, transforming gradually from a bikini to a sports bra and spandex shorts. 

"Why can't anyone listen to me!?" Bubbles cried, "The robot's gone because I beat it up! My clothes are gone because I had to stop your bleeding! And I don't want you hurting Pathie because WITHOUT HIM YOU'D BE DEAD!"

Bubbles collapsed to her knees, crying away as she buried her face in her lap. "I barely know what he's saying. I don't even know how I understand him. But I know now that he's not a bad guy. He can't be. 

Ever since we started to talk, all he's done is help me. I also saw how sad he is. I saw him cry. I saw him offer himself to me. He wanted me to PUNISH him! He even wanted to die! 

I'm not sure what he's here for…but I think he feels he owes me something…and now, with what he's done, I feel like I owe him something too. So please…don't hurt him anymore." 

Blossom and Buttercup felt a heavy weight upon their hearts. The brunette no longer pulled on Pathie's legs, letting them drop to the ground. 

"Bubbles…we had no idea…" Blossom said, trying to console her sister, "Buttercup…get off the Rowdyruff's back, will ya?"

Not having a rebuttal for once, Buttercup quietly floated off Pathie's back. The scout, memories of the pain still strong, carefully got to his feet. After a long, meaningful glance at Blossom and Buttercup, Pathie shuffled over to the sad girl on the ground and extended a hand.

"Please don't cry anymore, Bubbles. It pains me to see you cry."

_**********_

//THREAT(S) IN RANGE

set STH = 0

//ATTACK NOW!


	24. Untitled

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Well, after finding no way of fixing the lack of italics in the upload, I have finally decided to utilize brackets in place of the italicized font. Hopefully this workaround will make the writing a lot easier to comprehend.

Also, my apologies for not updating in so long. But hey, at least I didn't abandon the work. :) 

I hope you enjoy this chapter…it is a tad longer than usual.

**CHAPTER 24**

Clang. Clang.

[I am enveloped in darkness. I hear death outside. He cannot get in, for I am in sanctuary.]

[I cannot see. But I can feel the cold of the sanctuary's walls, taste the growing scent of Malukian flesh, and hear whimpers close to me. I am not alone.]

Clang. Clang.

[The girl fears the worst for her family. I check with my sanctuary; turns out they escaped. She and I are the ones who are trapped.]

Clang. Clang.

[I had saved her. Her, as in the one with the soft, golden hair, the soothing blue eyes, and skin that men would kill to caress. She trembled in our sanctuary, fearing the worst of everything. I know this because I feel her. Oh, how I feel her.]

Clang. Clang.

[This was not the first time, for there were two other times her body was below mine. The first time, mud hid her attributes. The second time, a light gown tantalized me. Now, her clothing conformed to every curve.]

Clang. Clang.

[Lust was ready to overtake me. I couldn't even talk. All I could do was stare into her eyes.]

[The fantasy barraged my mind. Thinking became a pointless diversion from what I really wanted: To hold her. To caress her. To please her.]

Clang. Clang.

[I pressed my lips against hers. She cried.]

_**********_

"Buh-huh-huh! Buh-huh-huh! Wu-u-u-uh!"

On a semi-demolished street in the city of Townsville, two grown men sat in the middle of the roadway and cried inconsolably. To their left was the scrap metal that used to be a white stationwagon, its engine crushed into the back of an abandoned Ferrari. To their right lay the unconscious bodies of Robin (the kindergartener), Professor Utonium (the square-jawed man in the laboratory coat), and Bullet (the super-powered squirrel.) Directly in front of the two men laid a battered video camera, its battery almost expired.

"It's not fair, Billy!" One of the men bawled, "Why is it when we try to do something big it always comes out as a big pile of crap?"

"I know, Boris!" Billy bawled in return, "All we got were three seconds of the good stuff! Just THREE!" He raised three fingers to make his point. "If only that squirrel didn't fily into the car, making the robot chase us!"

"If only we still had our media van!" Boris said weakly, yet with exclamation.

"If only we kept our cool!" Billy added.

"If only they were awake for an interview!" Boris cried, pointing to Robin, Bullet, and the Professor.

"Now we're only SCREWED! Wu-u-u-uh!" The reporters cried in unison, before collapsing back to their inconsolable sobbing.

There are times in life, occasionally, in which at the very moment one reaches the lowest point of his/her day, something suddenly falls in sight to give that person a second chance. Most miss that chance, however, and end up waiting for Godot. Not in the case of Boris and Billy, however; their second chance literally rocketed down to them in the form of two battle-damaged superheroines named Blossom and Buttercup. Instead of approaching the reporters, however, the two little girls immediately set about to waking their comatose friends and family on the road, shaking the three figures every which way as hysteria screamed from the two's emerald and pink eyes. Nevertheless, the reporters got a shot of excitement as they leaped from their sad postures and scrambled to sieze the day.

"Quick, Billy, get the camera ready!" Boris said, stumbling with his cameraman towards their coveted recorder of breaking news.

"Right! Billy responded. In a matter of minutes, Billy's camera was perched on its owner's shoulder, the viewfinder pressed against the cameraman's right eye.

"Boris," Billy said "The battery's low on this thing. We probably have ten minutes left, at best."

"We'll have to make the most of it. Besides, those two can fly off at any second! We HAVE to get the story now or we can kiss our careers goodbye!" Boris replied.

The news-media duo, doing everything in the usual impromptu fashion, rapidly approached the two Powerpuffs. The girls' attempt to wake the professor, their playmate, and the squirrel bore no fruit thus far, feeding Blossom and Buttercup's sense of desperation. Boris and Billy were oblivious to this, being trained in their jobs to put the story above emotional consideration.

Boris, standing in front of the camera's eye, hastily began his reporter routine as footage of the distraught Powerpuffs was recorded on tape: "Boris Wiltzer of the local Townsville news here. After briefly witnessing part of the awesome battle with the robot and enduring a lull, the Powerpuff girls have suddenly returned to our location. As you can see, they are severely wounded, and for some reason the blue Powerpuff known as Bubbles is not with the two seen here. At this point I can only assume the worst, but I'll try to find out what's going on."

Boris approached Blossom, who was busy shaking the limp form of Professor Utonium by his collar. "Blossom, if you could, please give us an update of the situation! What is the status of the robot? Where is your sister, Bubbles? And what of the albino Rowdyruff? Is he still a threat?"

"I don't have time to answer these questions!" Blossom snapped, glaring at Boris with hateful, tear-stricken eyes before turning away to shake the scientist even more, as Buttercup hopped back and forth among the other two comatose companions.

"But Blossom, the people need to know! At least tell us what happened to Bubbles! She's not dead, is she?"

"If I can't wake the professor, then she will be! Now LEAVE ME ALONE!" Blossom cried.

She shook the scientist violently. "C'mon, professor! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

_**********_

How does one describe a sever blow to the male crotch? How does one describe the feeling of the testicles crushed like delicate walnuts, the contortion of the male's once-pleasant expression, and the pitiful, high-pitched "eep" that flows from the masculine lips? While it probably doesn't compare to, say, natural childbirth, there is no hesitation in the average male when he says that it hurts like crap, minus several colorful words from the dictionary of obscenities.

Bubbles, who was shocked, confused, and frightened by the deep, passionate kiss Pathie gave her, taught this lesson the hard way with her knee, as she pushed the scout off from her body and to the opposite side of the cramped, miniscule dome (which, to her, appeared mysteriously out of nowhere, when in fact it was Pathie's MPSD working to protect its user and his companion from certain death.) This wasn't because of revulsion, but rather, because such an intimate embrace was very alien to her innocent mind. Deep down she had a curiosity, but fear of the unknown kept it suppressed.

Pathie held the painful region, almost rolling into a fetal position, but that was impossible to do, due to the limited space. He squeezed his eyes tightly, grinding his teeth and letting out a soft hiss, before he summoned the willpower to crack them upon, looking upon the flustered, feminine face that lay next to his own.

"[P-P-Pathie! Why did you do that?]" Bubbles stuttered, the clanging of the metallic tentacles against the impromptu dome now an accepted ambience in their minds.

Pathie frowned in disappointment, though his face was still twisted with the horrible pain. "[I guess I deserved that blow,]" He muttered, before speaking up to address Bubbles.

"[I…got carried away with the moment. I had let my little head think for me,]" Pathie said, mocking himself, "[I should've asked permission first. I apologize.]"

 "[Little head? But you only have one head,]" Bubbles pointed out, a tad confused over Pathie's euphemism. The scout almost rolled his eyes in response, wishing that Bubbles didn't act so childlike.

"[It's not important. But look at it this way, Bubbles,]" The scout said, "[Now you have undeniable proof that I'm not a Rowdyruff.]"

"[What do you mean?]"

"[Did I explode like you said I would?]"

"[No, you didn't.]"

"[Well, there you go,]" Pathie said with a slight grin.

The small talk froze unexpectedly at that point. Bubbles stared worriedly into the Scout's eyes, evoking uneasiness on the malukian's part. Another question was burning in her naïve mind, but for some reason the blonde could not decide whether or not she should ask. At last, she broke the ice in the shelter, speaking very meekly.

"[Pathie?]"

"[What?]" The scout replied, almost as meek.

"[The way you…kissed me…isn't that something only grown-ups do?]"

The question nearly snapped Pathie in two, but all he expressed was the suspicious raise of the eyebrow. "[Come again?]"

"[The way you kissed…it's like how they do it in love movies…if the professor finds out, I could get in trouble! We're just little kids!]"

"[What? You think we're CHILDREN? Oh, for the love of…]" Pathie could not finish the sentence, for he slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down his face, nearly overwhelmed by the blatant denial of the survivor. "[Bubbles, there is no possible way that we are kids!]"

"[What do you mean? We're the same size and everything,]" Bubbles pointed out sharply, her meekness dying way in the face of Pathie's apparent idiocy.

"[That's exactly my point, Bubbles!" The scout exclaimed, "[We are of the same height AND we appear to be the same age. That means you are in your late twenties, just like myself. If we are kids, as you claim we are, we'd at least be HALF of our current size!]"

"[Only BABIES are that big, you dum-dum head!]" Bubbles exclaimed, as she gave the scout a disciplinary bonk on the noggin, "[I'm SIX years old!]"

"[What!?]" Pathie nearly shouted, before holding his head in pain, bearing a cross between a shock and a grimace. "[You are, for a lack of a better word, INSANE! Who the bloody hell taught you Malukian anatomy? Whoever did was lousy at it. I mean…it defies all logic! IF I was, in fact, a kindergartener, I would be back at home learning grammar instead of rotting on this rock doing grunt work for the military!]"

[Or more likely dead,] The scout thought grimly.

"[I'm telling you, we're kids!]" Bubbles cried in exasperation.

"[Your denial is unbelievable!]" Pathie cried back.

"[I'm NOT in De Nile! We're in Townsville!]"

Pathie buried his face in the ground, grumbling, resisting the urge to pull out his silvery hair. After the feeling managed to pass, he at last thought of an idea to settle this tiring dispute. 

"[Bubbles…why don't we let the MPSD tell us who is right?]" Pathie offered.

"[Wha?]"

"[Where do you think this dome came from? That's the MPSD doing its job. Without it we'd be dead already…Though I have to admit, that robot is incredibly persistent. Anyways…it can scan your entire body in a span of seconds, and tell us the facts plain and simple. It's in a convenient position to do so, since it's now expanded into the dome above us. Here, I'll show you.]"

Pathie shifted onto his back, lying in the center of the shelter. Bubbles looked on curiously.

"[Computer, I want you to perform a quick medical scan on myself,]" Pathie spoke to the dome, "[When you are finished, state my 'common name' species and my age.]"

"[Understood,]" The dome chimed, "[Please lay still while I scan.]"

A brilliant flash of green light filled the dome for but an instant, momentarily blinding the occupants inside. Bubbles, in particular, squeezed her eyes tight like a clam, feeling like onions were just smashed into them. "[My eyes!]" she complained.

"[You get used to it,]" Pathie said, though in truth it still disorients him every time he goes through with the procedure.

"[Results for common scan are, Race: Malukian Male. Age: twenty-seven,]" The computer chimed.

"[See? The computer says that I am an adult,]" The scout confirmed, "[Now it's your turn. Just lay on your back like I did.]"

Bubbles and Pathie traded positions, albeit somewhat awkwardly. The blonde, nervous of the scan, trembled slightly. In this positioning, Pathie managed to get a better view of Bubbles' attire. Her black, skin-tight clothes, lended to her by the scout, were no longer the scant invitation it first was: It had finally grown to full size, a black tunic and pants of uniform fabric, exactly the clothing that Pathie wore. The temptation to undress her in his mind began to grow, but he quickly squashed that line of thought.

"[Now, computer, perform the same scan on Bubbles. State the same categories of information as before.]"

Again there was the flash of green light. Again the two occupants had to rub their poor eyes. But the Déjà vu halted when the computer, for a lack of a better phrase, fell silent. It came across data and information it never processed before, and analyzed it quietly like a wise philosopher, until it finally put the pieces together to obtain a definite answer.

"[Computer, what's wrong?]" Pathie asked, an ominous feeling brewing in the moment of silence.

"[The results are hard to decipher,]" The computer stated.

"[Decipher?]" Bubbles questioned, not knowing what the word meant, as she shifted back onto her side.

"[How can that be? I have every reason to believe that she's a Malukian just like I. Isn't that the case?]"

"[There is a flaw in your perception,]" The computer said, "[To be precise, there are two flaws, both of which cannot be perceived by visual scans. Shall I detail them?]"

"[Yes, of course!]" Pathie said hastily, the ominous feeling now stronger.

"[What does it mean by 'flaws'?]" Bubbles asked.

The question was unheard by Pathie, for his mind slipped into a speculation. A possibility concocted in his head began to jeer at him, mock him, and pulverize him. It grew worse with every explanation the computer stated:

"[The first flaw in the perception is that the female is a Malukian. It is determined that this is only half-true. Though she has the appearance of the Malukian race, her natural Estrox is in fact the 46 isotope that is being mined for the medical purpose of this mission. This shows she is not a full Malukian because the power of the 46 isotope, if injected into a normal Malukian at extreme amounts, would eventually kill that Malukian in a very horrific death due to the overload of uncontainable energy. 

"[The only sure explanation of her origins is that she is, in fact, an artificial creation derived from the 46 isotope, which would explain how her body manages to uphold homeostasis with such a powerful substance.]"

The mental blank overloading Bubbles' brain nearly caused her to pass out, but she managed to ask, "[Does that mean I'm not a Maluky thing?]"

"[Technically, yes.]"

"[Ha! I told you I wasn't a maluky thing, Pathie!]" Bubbles nearly exclaimed to Pathie; but when she turned to the scout, she cut herself short, for Pathie had slipped into a harrowing stupor. His eyes stared at nothing, formulating the horrible truth, growing wider with each passing second.   

"[The second flaw is in the perception of the female's age. She appears to be a young adult by all accounts of Malukian Biology. However, analysis reveals that her body has never experienced a menstrual cycle or excreted the musky scent of mature body odor. To put it bluntly, her body is, in fact, prepubescent.

"[The presence of the 46 isotope may be a significant factor in this female's life cycle. It most likely has accelerated the cell production rate of her body, meaning that when her body reaches puberty she might outgrow a typical Malukian by several feet or more. If not, then her lifespan will probably be much shorter than the average.]"

"[Um…does that mean I'm a kid?]" Bubbles asked, again perplexed by all the fancy talk.

"[Yes,]" The computer answered.

Bubbles made no exclamation this time. The petrified expression of the scout had already begun to disturb her as well. She didn't understand the shock that coursed through Pathie's veins, the full truth now grotesquely realized in his mind.

"[Pathie?]" Bubbles asked, trying to snap him out of it.

No response was given.

"[Pathie!]" Bubbles blurted out, now significantly scared.

No response.

"[Pathie! What's wrong with you! SAY SOMETHING!]" Bubbles cried, as she began to shake the petrified scout by the shoulders, fearing she was sharing room with a corpse. This action managed to snap the scout back to reality; but his demeanor was no longer calm, nor irritated, nor angered. From that point on, his words were forced out like water through the spaces of teeth, hinting at the pure hatred he now directed upon himself.

"[You…were right all along…I was in the wrong…]" He said, "[Now that it is…settled…I can focus on…the robot.

"[Stay…I will face it alone.]"

Bubbles was surprised by these words. "[Pathie, I should help!]"

"[NO! YOU MUST STAY!]" Pathie exploded, frightening the blonde into submission, before he sank into a boiling depression.

"[Computer…I need three hypos…of Estrox-46. Protect her while I…am away.]" Pathie requested, nearly spasming with fury.

"Understood," The computer chimed. The three hypos materialized before Pathie, filled with the sickly, black substance. He grasped them with one hand, holding them tightly, as Bubbles looked on with the same expression of horror on her face back when she had first encountered the scout.

Pathie took his other hand. He began to rhythmically punch through the ground below him with that hand, until he formed a hole to the awaiting sewer tunnels below large enough for him to fit through.

Before dropping down to meet his fate, he turned to look at Bubbles…possibly for the last time.

"I am so sorry," he whispered, and disappeared.

_**********_

[What do you think you are doing? Are you insane? You need your device more than ever now! You honestly expect to survive against that machine with nothing but your bare hands?]

[I have committed an atrocity. I ignored the truth. I knew it before the scans revealed it. I nearly brought my fantasy out of my wretched soul and upon her innocent flesh.]

[But you still have a mission to accomplish!]

[It will be accomplished.]

[That robot will tear you to PIECES. Are you trying to punish yourself this way? Committing suicide won't save your race from extinction!]

[You should look at what I have in my hand.]

[…You plan to inject ALL of that into your body?! But that's one step away from an overdose!]

[You see now how I will serve punishment? The Estrox will burn in me like a roaring inferno, boil my very blood, blanket my eyes with a demonic crimson, electrify me with the force of a thousand storms…yes, it is a pain of unspeakable extremes, but it will give me the power to survive. More importantly, it is the only way to let it out.]

[Let out what?]

[That cold, primal voice, whispering in my head that I should not have stopped when she struck her blow…That voice, whispering in my head that I should've taken that beautiful creature and enslaved her like a prostitute, to melt away the depravity of my lust, ignoring morals for the sake of my grotesque satisfaction. "It doesn't matter that she's a child," it says, "It's much better that way, being so fresh and innocent! You'd have your lust sated whenever you want without consequence, and she'd eventually enjoy it anyway!"

[I must destroy that voice, for my sake and for hers, before I succumb to it and shatter her innocent soul through her womb.] 

[No! This isn't the way. You can't bring yourself to the brink of death like this. You must confess-]

[She cannot know! If I tell her, I'll lose her forever! I would die before losing her! I would bathe in acid before losing her!]

[You can't have her anyway, at least not as a lover. And if you don't tell someone, you'll lose your sanity!]

[I'm already insane, haven't you noticed!? But no matter! It is time to fall into the depths of hell! I shall conquer the machine! I shall conquer the demons! And at last, I will be free! Free! FREE!]


	25. In The Mind of A Hollow Man MICROCHAPTER

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oy. I have to be very honest about this chapter. There were so many things that could've possibly been done, so many ways…I couldn't find the best one. Nothing I conceived could satisfy me. Nothing. No matter what I wrote down, it ended up being crap.

So, I ended up choosing my poison for this one. And what I ended up scribbling, I felt, wouldn't be so bad as the others. I still have the sickness in me about it, but at least it doesn't feel like the plague. And yes, I know it is short. But it is better to have a few choice words than to drone endlessly, pretending to be a professional writer.

After this, the final chapter will be scribed. You have my word that I will give that chapter the quality it deserves. 

CHAPTER 25

I emerge.

Sunlight, Destruction, Pain.

Everything is painted red.

Muscles quake.

Pain.

A monster strikes. Monster. Demon. Atrocity.

I feel flames.

Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.

I fight.

I feel flames.

Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.

Blood boils. Pain.

It refuses to die.

Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.

I bleed. Pain.

I cry.

It refuses to die.

Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.

I beat. I ravage.

I cry.

"Why won't you die?!"

Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!

Voices. Surrounding. Closing in.

The friend. The mother.

The ally. The survivors.

Her.

I shout. I cry.

"Stay away!

"Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!"

They are deaf. They come.

They torment me.

I hate them. I fight them back.

They scatter.

The mistake is fatal. The demon pins me.

"Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!"

It is over. I have failed.

The demon prepares to devour.

Its maw glows sickly green.

There is no escape.

I cry.

But then, I see it.

White flame.

I feel it as it envelopes me. It throws me back.

I think the demon is thrown back too.

I land a crippled man. I cannot even move.

Frozen as though encased in ice.

I cry to myself now.

I pray that the demon has died.

I pray that I am tormented no longer.

I pray that the others can do what I could not.

But now I slip away, into darkness.

Whether I stay there, I do not know.

But I'd rather stay in that isolation

Than suffer anymore.

Unless…I am forgiven.


	26. Farewell To The Growing Seed

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **At last, the final chapter. It was about time I gave this fiction closure.

This ending may or may not be everyone's cup of tea. Whether or not that is, please let me know about it. This story deserves a good ending, after all. If I must improve upon it, I shall.

**CHAPTER 26**

"Hello, fair Townsvillers. This is Channel 6 News at Eleven, and I am your host, Boris Wiltzer.

"Townsville got by on the skin of its teeth today in one of the closest calls the city has ever endured. A killer robot of unknown origin flew into town this afternoon, laying waste to whatever it touched with frightening efficiency. And if that wasn't bad enough for the town, the albino Rowdyruff, assumed to have been subdued, returned once again to terrorize the citizens of Townsville, as well as the Powerpuff Girls themselves. As the pre-recorded footage shows, our local heroes endured quite a struggle, even with the support their woodland companion, Bullet, provided.

"In the end, however, the Powerpuff Girls were able to save the day. Supposedly in thanks to Professor Utonium's technical know-how, they made use of a massive, highly concentrated laser beam charged with the unique energy of an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, or EMP. One direct blast at the killer robot melted its protective shielding, overloaded its circuits, and ruptured its power core, causing the abomination of science to explode, thereby ceasing its function.

"The albino Rowdyruff, inexplicably combating the robot in a beserker rage when the laser beam was unleashed, had no time to escape the blast radius.

"His body is now being kept under Professor Utonium's custody. According to the scientist, it is uncertain whether the Rowdyruff is comatose or altogether dead, for reasons the professor declined to discuss. Either way, the body will be destroyed by tomorrow morning, ensuring that the Rowdyruff, whoever he is, will never bring harm to the town again.

"In other news…"

It was raining. The dark, black sky of night weeped wherever its tears could go. The droplets fell and tapped curiously on windows, seeking shelter but given none. All of this was filtered out from the deep depths of the professor's basement laboratory, replaced by the hum of fluorescent lights.

"Sigh…"

It had taken forever for the house to be repaired, for every room to be cleaned, for any scant reminder of the Rowdyruff's-

"No, no. I have to stop calling him that. It's not fair for him to be categorized with those monsters, at least for Bubbles' sake."

Professor Utonium stood next to a small, airtight chamber, located in a remote corner of the lab. Inside that chamber was the body of Pathie- at least, that's what Bubbles called it- lifeless, visible only by a circular window on the head of the chamber. Looking through the plexiglass, the professor was thankful that the eyes of it were closed. The last time he saw them, they were so bloodshot they looked demonic. Still, the expression on its face was anything but peaceful.

"It looks…so sad."

The professor still had trouble grasping everything. It was all so simple when it was black and white- Pathie, the bad guy, the Powerpuffs, good guys. It was still that way when he was shaken from his sleep on the roadside, waking to see Blossom and Buttercup wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. But after that, the lines of good and bad were irreversibly twisted, transformed into a sea of grays.

Of course, the professor knew that the robot's programming had flaws, and at once felt absolutely horrible when he learned that the wounds the brunette and the redhead bore were dealt by his machination. But it was shocking to hear that Pathie was the one responsible for resuscitating them. Even more shocking was learning that it was sheltering Bubbles from the wrath of that same mechanical monstrosity. It was the same person that threatened the blonde with a needle, wasn't it? The same person that tranquilized the professor and kidnapped the sweet little girl? The same person that destroyed the professor's holographic training room in a frightening, bestial rage? All this time it seemed nothing more than a heartless, sadistic destroyer…why the sudden turnaround?

The professor had no time to speculate on all this, however. The robot had to be dealt with, or else the town's demise would be certain. But all the professor could do was fish out the EMP emitter from his pocket, a device he meant to install inside the robot as a failsafe, direct the two girls on how to activate it, and hope for the best.

But how the hell did they convert that little circuitboard into a laser beam?!

And why, when Blossom and Buttercup flew him to their semi-demolished house, did they find Bubbles, dressed in a black bodysuit, weeping over the ravaged body of the very person that had threatened her life for all of yesterday?! He can still remember Bubbles' tear-stricken words, as she was grasping the albino for a faint shimmer of life:

"I…I didn't mean to…I was aiming for the robot! I DIDN'T WANT TO HURT HIM! Professor, he's not dead, is he? Can you wake him up? He's just knocked out, right? PLEASE, TELL ME HE'S NOT DEAD! I DON'T WANNA BE A MURDERER!"

The professor tried to ask his little girls…but based on the answers he got, he doubted that he'll ever figure it all out. All he could understand was that there was no understanding. Pathie's motives were too complicated to decipher, except for that overall, he did not intend harm.

But it was too late now to settle these misunderstandings. All he could do for now was preserve the body, ensuring Bubbles that he would try to find a way to revive Pathie, while at the same time ensuring the local media that the albino was dead as a doornail. He hated these lies, but what could he do? Their house would've been burned to the ground by a raging mob, convinced that the Utoniums intended to reap doom upon them all, if they knew that Bubbles desired life for her mortal enemy (as far as they could tell.) But could Bubbles cope with the facts? If she, somehow, was able to create that laser beam, then she was the one responsible for Pathie's demise. Grown men have killed themselves in the face of such guilt…would Bubbles give up on life, as well? And yet, even now the body was still burning with the energy of Chemical X, even though all other vital functions had ceased. Was he not truly dead, then? Or was the energy merely part of the remains?

"Sigh…I only hope that Bubbles will be able to carry on. I can't stand to have her so…traumatized. Just one last thing to do…"

Reaching into his pocket, the professor produced a peculiar item. It was flat, circular, and soft to the touch. Bubbles made the request that this…thing…whatever it was, would be left with the body, out of respect, so that'd it be just the way he remembered it when he comes around (sigh...) Apparently, it belonged to the albino in some fashion or another. To the professor, it seemed nothing more than a common toy…but why deny his little girl such a simple request?

He placed the item on top of the small window of the chamber, covering the sad countenance of the albino. "I'm going to have to cover this part of the lab…seeing this chamber every day is going to creep me out. But for now…I need some sleep." The professor muttered to himself.

The professor turned away from the small chamber. Weighed down by the events of that day, he trudged upwards from the laboratory, away from the humming lights and sterilized linoleum, to enter the meager comfort of his humble suburban home, covered by darkness and the ambience of twilight rain. He worked his way, step by step, to the second floor, seeking the entrance of his bedroom in the night. However, when he reached the head of the stairway, he saw the silhouette of a pig-tailed girl in a nightgown sitting against the wall of the corridor. Upon seeing the professor, the silhouette at once spoke up, revealing a voice of tender, youthful femininity.

"…Professor?"

"Bubbles? It's awfully late, dear. You should go to bed with your sisters and Robin," the professor said, speaking in his soothing, fatherly tone. He saw that Bubbles sat dressed in her blue nightgown, with her legs against her chest, arms wrapped around the shins. Her expression was as sad as the corpse in the chamber, stained by tears.

"I can't sleep."

"Oh…well, you really should try. A young girl like you needs her sleep."

"I don't want to," Bubbles replied, burying her head in her knees, "I'll just have nightmares."

The professor sighed. He lowered himself to Bubbles' level, sitting down in the dark hallway, offering paternal comfort with the beckoning of his hand. The little girl accepted, and shifted to lie upon the professor, listening to the breathing of his chest and the soft beating of his heart as his arms wrapped around her.

"Bubbles…I know that this isn't easy for you. You feel responsible for what happened, even though it was an accident," The professor consoled, stroking Bubbles' golden hair, "I don't think I'll ever fully understand him, but I know now that he didn't mean to hurt us."

"He was so sad, professor…no one loved him," Bubbles lamented.

"Life can be like that, Bubbles. Some days we prosper, other days we suffer. Pathie, I guess, was one who suffered most."

"You'll find a way to bring him back, right professor?" Bubbles asked, pleading to the professor through her eyes.

The professor hesitated. "I'll try my best, dear."

"Professor? Can I go to bed with you?"

"Yes, Bubbles, you can."

The professor rose to his feet. Carrying the young blonde in his arms, he made his way to his bedroom, where he would provide his daughter comfort however he can, to ward off the demons haunting her dreams.

* * *

It had been waiting all day for this moment to come. For the longest time, it had been playing dead, as it was exchanged from one indigenous life-form's hands to another's. It had to, after the near-liability that occurred when it converted that primitive EMP emitter into a more useful weapon, only to have the robot explode when the scout was at point-blank range from it. There was a plus side to the major botch, though. The Malukian was mostly dead, kept alive only by the overdose of Estrox-46 still burning in his veins, but had he not been caught in that blast radius, ceasing all his bodily functions, the dramatic overcharge of energy would've killed him completely . With the inhabitants of the area now dormant, the MPSD could finally revive him without an audience. Maybe now that he's gone through his beserker rage, the scout could actually get back to the task at hand…they've wasted too much time as is.

Rotate, rotate, rotate…cut, cut, cut…well, getting the glass off was easy enough. But this hole's barely large enough to fit through…the chamber itself would have to be cut in half the long way in order for Pathie to get out, yet performing that cut right now would eviscerate the guy in the process. That wouldn't be good for his planet now, would it? The MPSD figured that it'd be better off reviving Pathie first, and set off to do so.

The disc-like device clamped itself upon the left forearm of the scout. At once it detected the volatile estrox-46 flowing through his body, now the only barrier between life and death. The MPSD would have to act quickly. Once the estrox-46 is siphoned out of his system, there would be little time to jumpstart the Malukian.

At once the MPSD began sucking the substance out of Pathie, much like a rubber barnacle. Seventy percent…forty percent…ten…it's gone! Now, for the revival!

The MPSD flopped itself over upon the chest of the Malukian. Expanding itself to cover his entire chest, the MPSD began to wind up with the charge of old-fashioned electricity. The winding sound grew in pitch and volume until the maximum charge was reach. And then…

ZAP! Pathie snapped back to life via the wonderful sensation of a full-body electrocution.

At once the MPSD leapt upon Pathie's mouth, cutting off his air so that he could not scream like a sissy and disturb the sleep of half of the suburb. This, of course, made the newly revived scout panic greatly, especially with the sudden sensation of claustrophobia that inexplicably drove him to tear a hole out of his once-airtight chamber with his bare hands. He stumbled out of that chamber and plopped most uncomfortably upon the hard, cold floor of the lab, where he struggled to pry his insane tool off his mouth, all the while making several muffled cries of protest.

_"Scout Zimbogous, sir, it is wise for you to act more quietly,"_ The MPSD chimed calmly.

_"MMMMH!?"_ Pathie inquired, pulling harder as he kneeled to the ground on both knees.

_"Everyone thinks you are dead. The artificial Malukian had the indigenous lifeform in the white coat preserve your body for future revival. Now all of them are currently in slumber. It is imperative that we take this opportunity to exit inconspicuously, or we may find leaving this planet to be very difficult. We are already lucky that your tearing of that chamber cannot be heard due to their slumber, so it is best not to take any more unnecessary risks."_

Pathie stopped struggling, taken aback by what he just learned. Sensing the calm, the MPSD removed itself from Pathie's mouth, allowing him to breathe easy again. It reattached itself upon his forearm, always serving its duty to the scout.

_"They think…I'm dead? What happened out there, computer? What knocked me out? It's all…so blurry to me," _Pathie asked, as he sat down Indian-style to gather his bearings.

_"While you were fighting with your overdose against the machine, I had escorted the blonde away from danger. We saw that you were losing the battle, and she was quite distressed about it. You had put me on quite a handicap, scout Zimbogous. Because she had no experience with my usage, I couldn't trust her with the use of particle-tech melee weaponry, for she might as well have harmed herself. She tried laser vision, but it had no effect, and when she tried to help unarmed you literally fought her away. That overdose nearly drove you mad."_

_"I do remember that part," _Pathie said grimly, sighing, _"But what was that white light I saw?"_

_"That, scout Zimbogous, was a high-power laser beam infused with an EMP charge, created by a one-shot weapon formed from merging the MPSD's particle tech with the primitive circuit board of an EMP emitter. The other two artificial Malukians had brought it to the battle in a desperate bid for victory, but the particle-tech's adapting properties radically increased our chances of success. However, since I am not programmed for autonomous combat, I had the blonde take control of the weapon and directed her to fire it. Aiming was easy for her, since the weapon relied on her own laser vision to work; but to put it simply, the makeshift gun worked a little TOO well. We expected the robot to short-circuit and become lifeless metal…we didn't expect the robot to explode. You received the full blunt of the explosion. Were it not for the overdose, you would've died instantly."_

Pathie buried his face in his hands. _"Oh god…Bubbles must think she killed me…that's the worst guilt a youth could have." _He looked to his device. _"Then again, wouldn't she be happy that I'm dead?"_

_"That would be a negative,"_ The MPSD chimed, _"I told you earlier she wanted you preserved so you could be revived in the future. None of them understood the capabilities the MPSD possesses…but if they did, they would've cut me open to study me. I had to play dead in order to dilute their interest in the device, or else they would never have left me alone so I could bring you back._

_"We're wasting time here, Pathie. We have what we came for. Our homeworld awaits us. We no longer have any obstacles to prevent us from completing the mission, so it is imperative that we leave as soon as possible. Let's go."_

Pathie slowly rose to his feet. He started to walk, but then he stopped himself. _"No, computer…I can't leave this planet just yet."_

_"What? Why not? This isn't about the blonde, is it?"_

_"It's not like that, computer…not anymore. It's horribly unfair to me, knowing now that she is, in fact, a child…I honestly thought I could've had a chance with her…but, if anything, she's shown me that I have issues that I had never confronted, until I met her. It's something I should thank her for, at least. Also…I just wish we could actually understand each other, just for once. She's as enigmatic to me as I am to her. And I'm just supposed to leave it dangling by disappearing from her life without so much as a goodbye or a thank-you? She would HATE me for it. I care too much for her welfare to let that happen."_

_"You and Bubbles come from drastically different worlds. Your mingling with her proves they wouldn't be compatible in a matter of a few days. She doesn't even understand why you are here…you're an unexpected wildcard in her life. You are better off just letting her go._

Pathie grumbled. _"I figured you'd say that, computer. Still, I have to tie loose ends somehow…I'd feel guilty for life if I don't."_

The MPSD was losing patience. _"Try to be reasonable, Pathie. In order for her to understand you, and you her, you'd have to study each other's homeworld for years upon years. We are talking literally hundreds of different languages, cultures, philosophies, technologies, et cetera. You don't have the time to learn and teach all this! Our homeworld is on the brink of extinction!"_

For a slight moment, Pathie's face bore the look of despair…until it twisted upwards into a sly grin. _"Who said anything about staying? I know something that can learn everything about a planet in a matter of hours, and it just happens to be resting upon my forearm."_

_"What?! Pathie, it is not our right! You're not an ambassador!"_

_"Of course not. I'm a scout. My main mission, as the formal doctrine states, is to gather information on new worlds. And since the Malukian knowledge of this planet is scant, I think the World Library would appreciate the new data…once I'm done with it, of course. And besides, it's not like we wouldn't give something of equal value in return…"_

_

* * *

_

The sun shone brilliantly through the windows of the Utonium house, drying the earth with the luminescence. The light reached into the eyes of the inhabitants, disturbing their slumber. Blossom was the first to embrace the waking world, lifting herself groggily out of her bed.

As she gathered her bearings, she looked around her bedroom. Buttercup, grumbling for more sleep, laid on the far side of the bed, burying her head beneath her pillow. Robin slept peacefully on the floor, wrapped in the comfort of a sleeping bag. But Bubbles…

_She's not here,_ Blossom thought, seeing the bare spot in the center of the bed, _Did she ever sleep at all?_

Taking off the blankets on her side, Blossom quietly floated down the hallway to the bathroom. Peering into the bathroom's sink, she twisted the knob of the faucet, allowing cool water to flow freely. She splashed it against her face, rubbing the crud from her eyes. Her vision focused, and she saw the countenance of a lovely little girl in the mirror, marred by the marks of battle. Only her long, redhead hair survived the events of yesterday.

_It's going to be awhile before these scars go away. Heh, Buttercup would probably show hers with pride. Bubbles was so lucky not to get pulverized…and yet, I know she's worse off._

Blossom, intending to get some breakfast, headed back into the hallway to make her way to the stairs. Before she got there, though, she spotted her blonde sister already walking down those steps.

"Bubbles!" Blossom exclaimed softly, rushing to her sister's side, "Bubbles…where were you last night? Did you stay up all this time?"

Bubbles halted her steps, turning to look at Blossom. "I went to bed with the professor, when he came back up. I'm sorry, Blossom…but I couldn't sleep without having a nightmare."

_…Bubbles looks devastated,_ Blossom thought. _I wouldn't blame her, but still…he had only been alive for two days…what happened between those two?_

"So, um…want to have a pop-tart?" Blossom asked. She began stepping down the stairs to go to the kitchen. "I'll toast some for you. You want a S'mores or a Strawberry?"

"I'm not hungry," Bubbles said.

Blossom halted. "You're not?"

"I'm just going to the basement…Pathie needs company."

"What?"

Bubbles did not bother to reply. She merely floated silently to the door of the laboratory, and entered, leaving Blossom greatly disturbed.

_It's worse than I thought. Much worse. But still, we have to let her deal with it._

Blossom, in need of distraction, set off to prepare the morning's breakfast. She grabbed a box of Pop-Tarts, unwrapped every pastry inside, and warmed them one-by-one in an old-fashioned toaster. After a few toastings, she took a bite of a strawberry pop-tart, indulging the sweet filling as best as she could, despite the concern for her blonde sister that continued to dangle in her mind. Footsteps reached her ears from the direction of the stairs, and she turned to see the rest of the occupants walking groggily down the steps. Buttercup took lead, followed closely by Robin, while the professor dragged behind.

"Good Morning," Blossom said, her words less than enthusiastic.

The three of them yawned as they stumbled into the kitchen, taking seats at the dining table. "Morning, Blossom," The professor said tiredly, "Do you know where Bubbles has gone? When I woke, she wasn't by my side."

"She went to the lab, to keep Pathie company." Blossom answered.

Buttercup, Robin, and the Professor all bore sudden looks of dismay. "Oh, man," Buttercup said, "That's just…creepy."

"Now, now, Buttercup, Bubbles has gone through a lot in the past two days," The professor rebutted, "She's not going to be her happy self for awhile. And by the looks of things, the chances of reviving Pathie are slim, at best. I don't understand why she cares so deeply for him, but we must help her cope however we can. That means you should try to be as nice as possible."

"But what if she doesn't get over it?" Robin asked, barely eeping out her words.

Everyone fell silent, their minds shifting to thoughts they would rather not think about. Finally, the professor spoke up. "She'll find a way. I know she will."

Blossom was quick to change subjects. "I warmed some pop-tarts for everyone. You guys want S'mores or Strawberry?"

"I'll have a S'mores," Professor Utonium answered.

"Ditto," Buttercup added.

"Strawberry, please," Robin thirded.

Blossom passed out the pastries and took a seat with her family and friend. The four of them, eager for breakfast, chewed upon their pastries peacefully, despite the thing that was on everyone's minds. But before they were even half-way finished, the silence of the house was impaled by a piercing scream.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

Everyone shot up from the table. "That was Bubbles!" Professor exclaimed.

Rushing from the kitchen, the two superheroines, the professor, and the playmate stampeded into the entrance of the laboratory. They barely made it down the basement stairs without tumbling down the long stairway. Then, they instantly rushed to where Pathie's body was kept…and immediately froze in utter shock. The small chamber, twisted into scrap metal. The body, nowhere in sight. And Bubbles, shocked by all of it, had fallen upon her knees, her eyes close to bursting. Upon seeing the others rush in, the blonde at once hurried to Professor Utonium, crying, "Professor! Professor! PATHIE'S GONE!"

"Gone?!" Professor exclaimed.

"GONE!"

"What? I thought that guy was dead!" Buttercup said.

"I guess he wasn't," Blossom said, picking up a piece of metal that used to be part of the chamber, "By the looks of things, that chamber was torn from the inside."

"So he was alive ALL THIS TIME?!" Bubbles cried furiously, "Ooooh….I'm gonna KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

The professor looked more closely at the scene. "It appears that the disc is gone, too…but what's this thing on the floor?" He picked up a small, metal sphere, decorated by peculiar engravings, from the surface of the floor. He held it out to the others so that they could all see…but Bubbles was too busy boiling her blood at the present moment, thus she did not even glace at it. Everyone else gathered around it, captured by its odd appearance.

"That's one funky marble," Buttercup commented.

"It looks pretty," Robin complimented.

"But where did it come from?" Blossom inquired.

"The albino must've left it behind. I've certainly never owned such an item," The professor answered, "But what could it possibly be? It can't REALLY be a mere marble, can it?"

"It doesn't look like anything else," Buttercup remarked.

"You mean just like how that disc looked like a chew toy?" Blossom said, speaking rhetorically.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" The professor asked, "Are you girls hiding something from me?"

"Sorry, professor, Bubbles made us promise not to tell you," Blossom answered quickly, "Bubbles, can you come over here and tell us what this thing is?"

Bubbles, pacing around the room, thinking up several ways to torture the albino, replied angrily, "How am I supposed to know? I'm just a KID!"

"Hey, you've been with him longer than us! Could you at least take a look at the darn thing?" Blossom snapped.

"Fine, fine, FINE! Where's this thing you guys are yapping about?!" Bubbles yelled, throwing her arms in the air.

Buttercup, fed up with all the sudden sass that the blonde was throwing upon them, grabbed the engraved marble from the professor's hand and threw it at the blonde. "It's right here, you jerk!"

Bubbles gasped. With lightning reflexes, she caught the rapidly approaching marble, barely preventing her face from receiving a nasty bruise on the forehead.

"Buttercup!" The professor scolded, "You know better than to-!"

The professor had no chance to finish that sentence, for the moment that the marble touched Bubbles' hand, it immediately hovered out of the blonde's grasp and suddenly glowed in a bright shade of green. The sudden transformation freaked everyone out.

"Jeez, Buttercup, what the heck did you do?!" Blossom exclaimed.

"I don't know, I just threw it! Honest!" Buttercup blurted in panic.

"If that thing's a bomb, you are SO dead!" Blossom yelled at her brunette sister.

"A bomb?! Oh, crud, HIT THE DECK!" The professor cried.

Everyone in the laboratory scattered for cover, scared shitless by the marble. Everyone, that is, except for Bubbles. When she touched that metal marble, At once her mind was filled with a pre-recorded message…one that was produced by none other than the scout himself:

_"Hello, Bubbles. If you've come across this message, then you'd have noticed that I am no longer here. This message will only play for you, and it will only play once. After that, the sphere will destroy itself, so it's absolutely important that you listen to me carefully._

_"I know the past two days were…confusing for you. They were confusing for me, too. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to stay with you to try to understand everything. But I hate leaving things dangling like that, so I've come up with a special arrangement._

_"When this message is done, you must go to the forest as soon as possible. Search for a tree with a massive trunk, with a small area for camping right next to it. Hidden in the notches of the roots of that tree is another sphere, like this one, only much larger in size. In it contains everything you could possibly ever know of myself and my homeworld. Protect this sphere and study its contents, for I may not be the last malukian to visit your home._

_"I am sorry, Bubbles, for all the pain that I have caused. I wish you from this point on a happy life._

_"P.S. :I plan on leaving the planet late in the morning. If you get this message early, you might have a chance to see me again before I go. Just follow the same directions as before: A massive tree in the forest with a camping area next to it. End of message."_

With the message completed, the tiny marble killed off its neon glow, and dropped to the ground. Bubbles stared at the remains of that sphere, as the others slowly crept out of their makeshift bomb shelters in various parts of the laboratory.

"I guess it wasn't a bomb after all," The professor said.

"Bubbles? Why didn't you move? If that was a bomb, you'd be dead!" Blossom exclaimed.

No reply.

"Bubbles? Buuuuubles….earth to bubbles!"

No reply.

"Great…she's zoned out," Buttercup remarked, sighing.

"I'M NOT ZONED OUT!" Bubbles ejaculated, "I'M GOING TO SEE PATHIE AND BEAT HIM UP! THAT JERK'S GONNA PAY!"

Having made her decision, Bubbles immediately shot straight up through the house, tearing a hole the size of Utah, flying away at intense speeds towards the direction of the forest. At once, the professor gasped.

"AGH! WE JUST REPAIRED THIS HOUSE!" He cried, the blatant destruction of his property inducing tears.

"Bubbles! Wait! Where are you going?" Blossom yelled at her blonde sister.

"Wait up, Bubbles!" Buttercup cried.

At once, the redhead and brunette superheroines followed Bubbles' lead. Each of them made a brand-new gap in the Utonium household, perfectly forming the hollowed-out points of an equilateral triangle. The professor, having seen his fortune go down the drain, collapsed to his knees and sobbed pitifully to himself.

Robin approached the scientist cautiously. "Do they do that often?" The little girl asked curiously.

"YES! AND IT'S DRIVING ME TO THE POOR HOUSE! WAAAAAAH!" The professor sobbed.

* * *

The forest, its thirst quenched by the rain of the previous night, now basked happily in the morning sun. The dew gleamed in the brightness and the air smelled sweet with pine, churned by the light blowing of wind. The trees rustled softly, emulating the calm of the ocean waves, soothing all the creatures that call the sylvan landscape "home."

Bullet the squirrel was no exception. To her, it fit the morning event perfectly.

When Pathie had died before her eyes, the female squirrel was devastated. All of her efforts, as well as Pathie's, were destroyed in mere seconds. She could not stand to stay in the city anymore, nor with Bubbles, both scarred by the destruction only "civilized" creatures could commit, and ran away to her homeland to mourn in the solitude of her tree. So one could imagine the squirrel's shock when the scout poked her awake in the middle of the night, prompting her to assault his face like an alien parasite, mistaking him for the walking dead. Several painful bites to the face later, she realized her error, and embraced the scout happily, before sheepishly apologizing for repeatedly violating his mug.

After Pathie shrugged it off, Bullet was enlisted to help repair his spacecraft, which looked like a giant ball bearing on the outside, yet was filled to the brim with highly advanced technology on the inside. Of course, most of Pathie's technical jargon made as much sense to her as the human practice of "Russian Roulette", but it was fun to help out the scout again, organizing all the weird-looking parts inside the ship, sheltered from the rain, watching as Pathie melded them to perfection, as if by magic. It took the entirety of the night, though, to finish repairing Pathie's spherical spacecraft. By the time dawn approached, the two of them lost their battle against exhaustion, and dozed off. They would've slept through the entire day, had the MPSD on Pathie's arm not awakened them by means of an ear-rattling siren. Deep down they were thankful for the wakeup call, though that could not be gathered from the string of curses Pathie unleashed.

Now, with the rain cleared, and morning upon them, it was time for Pathie to go. They stood before his spacecraft, the giant metal ball resting in the middle of the clearing where Bullet had first laid eyes on the scout, admiring its mathematical perfection.

_"Well…I know that you can't understand me right now, but you already know that my time to leave has come,"_ Pathie said to the squirrel.

"Cheep," Bullet lamented sadly.

Pathie knelt down to Bullet's level, consoling him with a small back rub. _"Everything will be fine now, thanks to your help. With any luck, I'll be able to visit you again sometime. But for now, I need to go home and help save my fellow Malukians from the disease."_

Pathie rose back to his feet. _"But before I do that, there's something I must test…Computer, you were able to gather this planet's information…now we must leave behind our own data. Generate a data sphere containing everything related to our homeworld. Be sure to set up the language choice so that it is exclusively translated for the languages you've recorded for this planet."_

The MPSD beeped twice. _"Understood. Generating Data Sphere. Hold out your arms for reception."_

Pathie did as he was told, holding his arms forward. The particles seeped out of the device, swirling like a snake down his left forearm, gathering into a rotating ball above his hands. The mass grew to the diameter of 3 and a half inches, before it solidified into a perfect, shiny metal sphere, topped with a simple green button. Pathie grabbed it from the air, smirking to himself.

_"I hope this doesn't overwhelm her,"_ Pathie said to himself, before turning to Bullet. ["This thing contains all you ever need to know of me. Hopefully Bubbles will be willing to share this with you.."

"Cheep?" Bullet asked, mystified.

_"Sigh…Nevermind. I have to hide this thing in the roots of this tree somewhere. Now, where would be a good- OH, BLOODY HELL!"_

Just as he was about to turn to the tree, his eye caught the sight of a rapidly approaching object, trailed by a familiar blue streak. In microseconds, he saw in the penetrating gaze that the person rocketing through the air was PISSED. This was confirmed when that person cried out _"You big, fat, stupid DOO-DOO BRAIN!" _Upon landing on the ground, that infuriated little girl unleashed the mighty power of an attack only females can do best: A devastating bitch-slap. Needless to say, Pathie spiraled in the air, yelling helplessly as a welt the size of Texas instantly popped up in his right cheek, before he crashed upside-down against the side of the massive tree's trunk. He soon crumpled down to the roots, moaning in excruciating pain. But he shot back up again, now feeling horribly violated. Bullet, scared to death of Bubbles, opted to take cover in a bush, watching the drama unfold.

_"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!?!"_ Pathie shouted, _"GOD, THAT HURTS!"_

_"Oh, as IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW, you JERK!" _Bubbles cried at the top of her lungs, her arms tensed in preparation for further bitch-slapping. _"I THOUGHT I KILLED YOU! I held you in my arms! You were dead as a rock! And now, I find out YOU WERE PLAYING POSSUM?!?!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW ANGRY I AM?!?!?"_

_"What? Bubbles, I wasn't playing-!"_

_"SHUT UP!"_ Bubbles yield, dashing to land another bitch-slap.

_"FUDGE!" _Pathie cursed, ducking just in the nick of time.

_"HOLD STILL, YOU JERK! I'M GONNA POUND YA!"_ Bubbles cried.

Her arms of death engaged into overdrive, rocketing bitch-slap after bitch-slap into Pathie's albino face. The scout dodged constantly, but every time it was one hell of a close call.

_"BUBBLES! For the love of god, stop this! I really was dead! But the MPSD revived me!"_ Pathie cried.

_"DON'T GIVE ME THAT! That thing stopped working after I fired that beam!"_ Bubbles snapped, now engaging in punches.

_"It was only playing dead so that no one would cut it open! I was only trying to make a quick exit! I had to. Ever since I got here I've only caused pain! I came here to save lives, not destroy the- AAAGH!"_

A slip in Pathie's defenses allowed a punch to connect with his eye. He staggered and fell to the ground, overwhelmed in excruciating pain. Bubbles, overwhelmed with anger, jumped upon him, pinning him with her knees. She grabbed the scout by his collar, pulling upward. She pulled one arm back, shaking with tension, ready to deal a powerful blow…but that blow was never dealt. The magnitude of what she was doing hit her like a point-blank shot to the face. She saw the wounds she had inflicted, the face saturated with a guilt no living creature should ever have to experience.

Tears rolled down her face, dripping upon her soiled nightgown. No words could come from her mouth. None. The little girl rolled off the scout and stumbled to the roots of the tree, crumbling to the ground like all purpose in her life had perished.

Pathie struggled to his feet. The pain was overwhelming.

_"Bubbles…I…"_ Pathie tried to say, but he was struck speechless as well.

_"It's…not fair," _Bubbles whimpered, _"Why is this happening? Why did you ever come here? Why? I don't know who you are…yet…so much happened…I can't make sense of it all! Do you hate me? Do you love me? Which one is it!? Which one!?"_

Pathie let out a deep, depressing sigh. He staggered to Bubbles' side, sitting down beside her. _"Bubbles…for awhile, I wasn't sure myself."_

Bubbles sniffed. _"What do you mean?"_

_"Bubbles…I did love you. I loved you in a way that is indescribable. But…it was the wrong kind of love. You are pretty, lovable, and like an angel to me…but then I realized that you're still a growing seed._

_"You are a child. Your time with the world has been short. There are many things which you are simply not yet ready for. I failed to realize that your very innocence was what attracted me to you…because an innocent child lacks strength against a bitter, desperate man. This, Bubbles, nearly destroyed me, and in effect would've destroyed my people for abandoning them when they need me most._

_"But in the end, you saved me. For a long time I had let my confidence wither, rejecting my race for a solitary life, distracting myself from my misery with life-threatening work…until I was in complete denial that I had any problems at all. Meeting you served as a reality check. Now I understand that I have…issues. And part of solving a problem is admitting you have one. For that, I still love you…but now, for the right reasons, and in a good way…like family._

_"But I admit, it is unfair. I have to leave you now to save my race. That means we'll never get the chance to really understand each other the way we want to. But I'm not going to give up on that…I'm not sure, but deep down I know we may see each other again."_

Bullet, seeing that the situation had calmed down, emerged from his hiding place. She saw that Pathie's metal sphere was dropped when Bubbles had attacked him, and decided to fetch it for him as an act of kindness. Pathie smiled as Bullet pushed the sphere over to him, and picked it up with his hands.

_"Here,"_ Pathie said to Bubbles, placing the sphere in her hands, _"You better take this."_

_"Is this…?" _Bubbles began to ask.

_"Yes. Everything about my world is in that little metal ball. It's translated for earth languages, so your sisters can learn about it too. I have a little ball of my own, containing everything about your world. I plan to study it so that if I ever come back here, we'll never misunderstand each other again. Who knows…perhaps I could speak your sisters' English someday. I have a good reason to study foreign languages now. Heh."_

Pathie rose to his feet once more. Bubbles did the same, observing the ball curiously, yet also letting slip a tiny little smirk of her own.

"Cheep Cheep?" Bullet asked Bubbles.

"Cheep," Bubbles said assuringly.

Pathie looked once more at his vessel. He saw part of the large sphere dissapate autonomously, revealing the cockpit inside, beckoning him to enter. He sighed.

_"The time has come,"_ Pathie spoke sadly, _"I can no longer delay them. My home-world needs me now."_ He turned to the blonde and the squirrel, both looking on sadly. _"Bullet…Bubbles…I thank you both. I wish both of you a happy life…goodbye."_

Pathie turned back to the vessel. Rising a few feet from the ground, the scout levitated slowly towards the entrance of the vessel. Bubbles and Bullet looked on as he floated down into the chair of the cockpit. He removed the MPSD from his arm and placed it inside the cockpit. The technology whirred to life.

_"Goodbye, Pathie,"_ Bubbles said solemnly.

"Cheep Cheep!" Bullet wailed sadly.

Pathie sadly waved to them one last time, as the entrance to the cockpit disappeared in the reemergence of the shiny metal surface. The ball began to rise, rise, rise to the air, slow but steady. The young girl and the squirrel watched as it ascended to the morning sky, before it finally blasted away into the depths of space, a trail of white its last visible memory.

Bubbles looked back down to the sphere in her hands. The touch of the metal was cold.

"Bubbles! What WAS that thing?"

"Was that the albino?"

"Hey…what's that in your hand?"

Bubbles looked up, and saw the presence of her sisters, both struck with a million questions to ask. She smiled.

"He's gone now," She said with calm, "To go back home."

"Home?" Blossom asked.

"Yes…and I want to go home too."

Bubbles took off without uttering another word.

"Hey, wait!" Buttercup called, "What about that shiny thing in your hand? Geez…she's making us fly everywhere. I just don't get her today!"

"Give her some time," Blossom said, "Eventually, we'll understand. Now come on. We should go home too."

"Oh, alright. I just hope she doesn't run off again…"

The redhead and the brunette flew away, to reunite with their family at home.

Bullet, now understanding that it was finally over, smiled. She scurried off back to her tree. Today will be a holiday for the forest guardian, in the honor of the scout.

At least, until someone else needs her help.


End file.
